The following individuals/jurisdictions won ARELLO® awards for their contributions to Fair Housing.
Prelicensing Category: The CE Shop for their course teaching implicit bias and fair housing.
-The course was created in response to a California law on teaching implicit bias and fair housing. It covers the impact of biases, fair housing laws, and includes interactive role-play as both a consumer and real estate professional. Students learn U.S. fair housing history and tools to identify and address their own biases through role-play scenarios with instant feedback.
Continuing Education Category: Neil Garfinkel and Real Estate Center 4 Success for their class ensuring compliance with fair housing laws.
-The continuing education Fair Housing class, created by real estate attorney Neil Garfinkel, is offered by Real Estate Center 4 Success, REBNY, and the Long Island Board of REALTORS®. Based on Garfinkel’s 15 years of teaching and daily experience counseling licensees, the class raises awareness of Fair Housing laws and compliance strategies. Offered for free, it provides a unique, practical perspective on fair housing.
Consumer Education Category: Nea Maloo for her course shifting the status quo in affordable housing.
-Nea Maloo, Assistant Professor at Howard University and member of the Maryland Real Estate Commission, developed a course where students designed affordable, decarbonized housing by retrofitting a historic African American church in Ledroit Park, D.C. The course covers high-performance buildings, energy reduction, equity, health, and policy challenges, aiming to shift affordable housing towards sustainability and efficiency.
Miscellaneous Category: Texas Real Estate Commission – Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board for their partnership addressing bias in property valuations.
-The Texas Real Estate Commission and the Texas Appraiser Licensing & Certification Board (TALCB) partnered to address bias in property valuations. Complaints are investigated by the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division and TALCB, ensuring compliance with appraisal standards. Joint investigations take about six months and aim to prevent housing discrimination through monitoring, education, and outreach. TALCB Director Melissa Tran emphasized the importance of proactively handling these complaints fairly for both consumers and appraisers.