Discrimination in Real Estate Investment
Atlanta, GA · Member since 2017 · 41 posts · 65 votes
I know this one might get a bit controversial, but I think it's important to have this discussion. I started out investing a bit over a year ago and it was just recently I started experiencing some discrimination once I moved outside the city in Atlanta. It's something I've come to live with in the south in general but I'm really curious to see if anyone has experienced any discrimination when it comes to securing seed capital from lenders, if any of y'all have seen negotiations hurt just by racism or if it's more of a one-off occurrence. Ran an experiment having my wife do the negotiating (she's white) and I swear she's either either memorized the Art of the Deal or I'm being hurt by unconscious bias.
Ok - Gonna throw my hat into this ring and add some perspective from Brooklyn NY.
From my perspective, I have ZERO tolerance for bias based exclusively on skin color or religion/culture. We have rented to blacks/whites/foreigners and have had ZERO problems. The closest thing to a "problem" that we ever experienced came from a lazy, underemployed, pot-smoking, entitled millennial who happened to be White.
The below are just some of the tools in our toolkit that we use to evaluate prospective renters, but in our experience, we're much quicker to look at , amongst other things:
- How people dress, regardless of their race/color
- Their Payment History/FICO score (reflection of their honesty/reliability/honor in upholding their obligations)
- Actual Landlord References going back at least 2 or 3 prior Landlords
All other things being equal, we'd much sooner Rent to an articulate, well-spoken, well-dressed, punctual, gainfully-employed black individual than a late-arriving, sloppy-sounding, and sloppy-looking white dude.
At the end of the day , it's about the Green(and the reliability of getting said Green) ..... not whether one is black or white...
What do y'all think about this?
@Account Closed Legal discrimination is NOT what the original poster was asking about. He has no proof that what happened with him was based on his race, and as I have mentioned multiple times, his not getting funding could have been due to a multitude of reasons. Of course if someone has been discriminated against and can prove their case they should take action and file a complaint with the proper authorities.
If you want to go around screaming discrimination for every time you don't get what you want, you are free to do that. For me, I will go about my business and take responsibility for putting together deals that other people want to fund or be a part of. I don't have the time to waste blaming everyone else for things that may not go my way, life's too short.
You might consider a more business-like hair cut and clothing than what Is shown with your posting. There may be some racism, but not much.
LOL ok which "triggered" mod edited my post?
No wonder I don't post here much. Very childish.
Guy can't believe thread is still going.
Guy adds to thread.
Guy thinks racism isn't real.
Guy probably white.
David, as an FYI, you come off as a giant racist.
Guy can't believe thread is still going.
Guy adds to thread.
Guy thinks racism isn't real.
Guy probably white.
Why do you assume I am white?
Prejudge much?
Would my opinion matter more to you if I were to show my skin color is a shade darker than white?
Racist much?
You can't fight perceived racism with more racism of your own. Seems like you have some inner demons of your own to face first. I wish you well on your journey good sir.
He doesn't have the brain capacity to understand what you are saying. This and his level of immaturity is made clear in his posts. It's unfortunate that some people just want to push their agenda vs having a reasonable conversation with someone.
I wish the mods would shut this hread down. It provides no value to this forum.
You wish the mods will shut this down? Maybe if I comment. On a thread about rent control I called the politicians that support it "clowns" and that was deleted as being "political". When really, 90% of what we do is governed by politics. This whole thread is about politics. And yes, I think those politicians that try to run our lives are clowns.
Ok - Gonna throw my hat into this ring and add some perspective from Brooklyn NY.
From my perspective, I have ZERO tolerance for bias based exclusively on skin color or religion/culture. We have rented to blacks/whites/foreigners and have had ZERO problems. The closest thing to a "problem" that we ever experienced came from a lazy, underemployed, pot-smoking, entitled millennial who happened to be White.
The below are just some of the tools in our toolkit that we use to evaluate prospective renters, but in our experience, we're much quicker to look at , amongst other things:
- How people dress, regardless of their race/color
- Their Payment History/FICO score (reflection of their honesty/reliability/honor in upholding their obligations)
- Actual Landlord References going back at least 2 or 3 prior Landlords
All other things being equal, we'd much sooner Rent to an articulate, well-spoken, well-dressed, punctual, gainfully-employed black individual than a late-arriving, sloppy-sounding, and sloppy-looking white dude.
At the end of the day , it's about the Green(and the reliability of getting said Green) ..... not whether one is black or white...
What do y'all think about this?
Anyone with a brain would 100% agree with this. Some people are, sadly, obsessed with how much pigment is in 1/2 of a mm of skin. And it's not just stereotypical racists that have this obsession. Sadly people of all colors have this obsession (and white SJWs).
Hopefully one day people won't give a crap about what color skin you have and it'll be as relevant as what color hair you have*
*Save gingers. Who have no soul
(Edit: Took out the word 'idiot' voluntary as that wasn't nice...)
You might consider a more business-like hair cut and clothing than what Is shown with your posting. There may be some racism, but not much.
Careful I've seen people called racist by saying they should get a haircut and dress nice. Or a reply like "You mean you want them to look more white?!?!?"
There are people of every gender, race and nationality in the Forbes 400. The same in entertainemt and politics. We have yet to have a female President but we came very close. We have a variety of people on the Supreme Court. If discrimminatiom is so overpowering and suffocating, how did this come about? The power of the white male establishment is quickly declining. Women and minorities are gaining power each day in this country. Eventually the caucasion male will become a distinct minority. Couple the demographic change with the shaming that white men seem to be willing to accept for their "privilege" and soon there will be no one to blame for a person's failures.
Racism is real. Racism in lending is real.
LOL at that source.
Not biased at all. Clicking on the link led me to lots of anti white articles. Take your racist propaganda elsewhere troll.
I have to agree that article is a joke. The "study" was as far from scientific as you could get. Then they equate the low response rate to an actual number equivalent of a lower credit score. How is that even possible. My favorite part was where they cited that Black and Latinos were denied at twice the percentage of white people. What they forget to mention was exactly why these applicants were denied. Did it ever occur to the writter that it has nothing to do with skin color but maybe it just so happens a larger percentage of Black and Latino applicants didn't be have the income or credit score to qualify yet still applied anyway? Discrimination is wrong. But to twist the facts to make it appear as though it's happening but with absolutely no proof is even worse.
@Karen Margrave I happen to have had the opportunity to consult and work with many nonprofit organizations who all pursue many causes and have heard of extremely disturbing cases and the resulting human condition as a direct result of this issue. It is a problem.
So when I hear someone say, they feel they are being discriminated against, I understand that could be a possibility. And when I see them get viscously attacked just for suggesting that may be a possibility, I also understand where that could be coming from. Sometimes people don't want to face or believe that something is happening and find it easier to try to belittle or deflect the situation.
On a lighter note... anyone here like seafood? Salmon, Flounder, Shrimp etc. I have a friend who literally might puke just at the thought of seafood. I on the other hand although I like seafood generally and some types of fish, there is something about catfish that just rubs me the wrong way. So I often stay stay away from catfish. If I go fishing sometimes, the eels, catfish and stingrays often get thrown back in the water. Not the flounder though.
So my friend doesn't like seafood at all (their loss) and I'm not that into catfish. Am I then a racist because I don't eat catfish? It is a form of personal discrimination in what I choose to eat (or not eat) but not even close to the type of discrimination we are/were talking about earlier.
If you are a lender and have to lend money to the public or you are an employer and often have to hire personnel or are a landlord and have to rent to tenants, these are all entities that are regulated in one form or another by the government. There are laws that define what is legal and fair lending practice, the same with employment - there are labor laws on the books, the same also for renting, there are also laws that govern that.
How you feel, what you feel comfortable with or your natural preference for certain race, group or persons has nothing to do with how to go about making lending, hiring or renting decisions. The most qualified applicant won't always be a member of a race or group similar to yours or that you prefer and when that happens you are/were supposed to leave those feelings at the house.
Its just like the employer that prefers not to hire women because women often have a way of getting pregnant. So the employer does the math... pregnant employee = family leave, which may also = paid time off, and definitely = new hire, which also = new training and integration expense. So the employer in his mind, has a 'business reason' for preferring not to hire women. Women = risk of pregnancy = avoidable expense.
But the law says its illegal to discriminate on basis of gender/sex as is the case with discriminating on the basis of race. This is very different from discriminating in terms of food preference. Salmon and Flounder just have a different texture than catfish.