Fair Housing and Equal Protection
Ohio REALTORS affirms its support of federal and state fair housing laws that provide equal opportunity in housing by protecting individuals from discrimination in the sale, rental, financing, or advertising of housing. We also support the REALTOR Code of Ethics and noted policies that further protect individuals and families by requiring REALTORS to provide equal professional services and to refrain from using discriminatory
or hate speech.
We support legislation to further enhance Ohio's Fair Housing practices, and support legislation that would add “gender identity” and “sexual orientation or expression” as protected classes under Ohio law.
Discriminatory Covenants
Ohio REALTORS denounces discrimination in any form. It therefore supports legislation to allow property owners to redact discriminatory covenants from their online deeds. Legislation should create a uniform process to be utilized by property owners or a qualified party acting on their behalf (attorney, title company or agent) to remove such language from recorded instruments. Any administrative fees charged for redaction should be reasonable.