I just finished teaching the Agent's Core Concepts class, and I thought it would have been good for a discussion to have taken place on AIDS Disclosure in the Fair Housing section of the class.

The 1988 Fair Housing Act amendments established "handicapped" as a new protected class. This includes people diagnosed with AIDS.

It is illegal for real estate agents to make unsolicited disclosures that a current or former occupant of a property has or had AIDS. If a potential buyer directly asks a REALTOR^® if a current or former owner has AIDS, and the REALTOR^® knows this is in fact true, HUD advises that the REALTOR^® should not respond to the question.

NAR suggests that a REALTOR^® should respond as follows: "Neither I nor my company answers this type of question, since my company feels that this information is not material to the transaction. In addition, any type of response by me or other agents of our firm may be a violation of the federal fair housing laws. If you believe that this information is relevant to your decision to buy the property, you must pursue this investigation on your own."

In fact, it is good policy when asked any type of question that involves one of the protected classes to respond as follows: "Neither I nor my company keep those type of statistics. If it is a matter of importance to you, I can direct you to sources that can give you that information."

Where, you say, are those sources? You can direct people to a Chamber of Commerce, Office of Economic Development, University of Delaware (for demographic information), police stations, internet web sites, and the list goes on.

Know the parameters of what you can and cannot say. Educate yourself about your responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act. Knowing the law and practicing it will keep you out of trouble and will make you a better REALTOR^®.

See you next week.

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