Fair Housing Coach Wins Real Estate Journalism Award

On June 16, Fair Housing Coach received the Gold Award for Best Newsletter from the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE). A panel of expert judges from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University selected the award winners announced at NAREE’s annual conference in Denver last week, from a record number of entries.

The judges especially noted the June 2016 Fair Housing Coach issue in which writer Carol Johnson Perkins explained how landlords should revise their tenant screening policies to conform to new HUD guidance on avoiding the potentially discriminatory pitfalls of conducting criminal background checks. She answered common questions concerning landlords’ use of arrest records, convictions for misdemeanors, convictions for drug possession, and criminal records more than 10 years old—all of which may have an unintentionally discriminatory effect on minority applicants. (To download a free copy of this issue, please click here.)

The judges commented, “This is a niche real estate newsletter on a vital topic in today’s legal environment. The informative copy is enlivened by a clean, fresh design.”

Congratulations to Carol, and many thanks to our subscribers for suggesting the topics that most concern them, and to our Board of Advisors for providing their expertise. To suggest topics for future issues, please contact Carol at fairhousingcoach@gmail.com.