Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. An African American church leader and a son of early civil rights activist and minister Martin Luther King Sr., King advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through nonviolence and civil disobedience. Inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi, he led targeted, nonviolent resistance against Jim Crow laws and other forms of discrimination.
King participated in and led marches for the right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other civil rights.[1] He oversaw the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, he led the unsuccessful Albany Movement in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize some of the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King was one of the leaders of the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The civil rights movement achieved pivotal legislative gains in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Source: Wikipedia
I HAVE A DREAM
You may be wondering why a real estate blog would post something about Martin Luther King. Many people are not aware of how much Martin Luther King helped the lives of home buyers, sellers, and real estate agents.
Martin Luther King’s death gave Congress the last push needed to pass the Fair Housing Act in 1968. The Fair Housing Act was put into place to ban racial discrimination in housing. You cannot be refused the rental or purchase of a house based on your race.
It didn’t happen overnight. Believe it or not, it still can and does come up. Last year the National Association of Realtors passed a ban on all Pocket Listings. Pocket listings are listings held off the market by a real estate agent that shares that information with whomever they so choose. Studies have shown that the last people to hear about Pocket Listings were people of color.
A large number of homes are sold off the market. Sometimes the agent with the pocket listing is double-ending the sale. The ban on Pocket Listings began on January 1, 2020. Implementation of this new law began on May 1, 2020. There are a few scenarios where the sale of an off-market property is probably ok. Such as the sale of a property within a family, or a buyer and seller that have already come to an agreement and request a real estate professional to help conduct the sale. If you’re not sure what may or may not be legal in this regard you may need to consult with an attorney.
As professionals, we’re tasked with making people aware that discrimination based on race is not acceptable. We must refuse to work with anyone that wants to do so. I’m proud to be a part of this ongoing history.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Santa Barbara
