Commentary: Testing Benefits Housing Providers and the Industry

Fred Underwood
National Association of Realtors®

Paired testing is useful for detecting discriminatory differences in treatment and can be used to address cases of alleged discrimination, to assess market levels of discrimination, or to educate the housing industry so it can monitor itself and make corrections to possible discriminatory practices. Changes in how discrimination is manifested in the marketplace do not remove the value of effective paired tests, but they may make such testing more difficult or expensive. Working with the housing industry, particularly practitioners with a deep commitment to fair housing and an intimate understanding of the market, can be beneficial in refining and crafting measures to test today’s markets. Participation and cooperation with the industry becomes critical as testing seeks to dive deeper into a transaction.