Color

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of color in all housing transactions. In 2020, the National Fair Housing Alliance reported that 2.24% of all fair housing complaints filed the previous year involved discrimination on the basis of color.

Color discrimination may be closely related to race discrimination (and sometimes national origin discrimination). In many instances an act of discrimination against someone could be considered both race and color discrimination, but unlike race discrimination, color discrimination may occur between members of the same race.

Discrimination on the basis of color may look like:

• Renting to light-skinned members of a given race but not to darker-skinned members of the same race
• Steering prospective tenants towards or away from specific units or communities based on their skin color
• Harassing or making unwanted comments to tenants about their skin color or the skin color of their family members/guests

Have you experienced discrimination? Call HOPE at 630-690-6500