Fair Housing and Social Media
How multifamily marketers can safely advertise their communities: insights from fair housing expert Anne Sadovsky.
Fair housing laws and social media play critical roles in promoting housing opportunities. The former, rooted in the Fair Housing Act of 1968, addresses discrimination in the real estate market, based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin or disability. These laws ensure that all individuals have equal access to housing, protecting renters and buyers from bias and fostering inclusive communities.
Social media is a powerful communication tool in the digital age and significantly amplifies the impact of fair housing laws. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok are instrumental in raising awareness about housing rights and discrimination issues.
“Just as social media has impacted almost everything in our lives, it has made the possibilities or opportunities for renters to file complaints against housing providers highly visible,” Anne Sadovsky, a fair housing consultant, said.
These platforms serve as space for advocacy groups, government agencies and individuals to share information, resources and personal stories, which help foster a greater understanding of fair housing principles. It didn’t take long for social media to play a leading role in educating the public about their rights under the Fair Housing Act.
Social media can serve as the watchdog, surfacing instances of discrimination. But those who use these platforms to reach a wider audience must comply with fair housing laws to avoid discriminatory practices as violations can take many forms, such as targeted advertising that excludes certain groups or discriminatory language in posts.
The compulsion to review
Many businesses that initially add the review category on their social media channels end up deleting their reviews entirely. People rarely bother leaving a good review after a positive experience. But they will react instantly when something clouds their encounter with said business, no matter how minor that might be. This also applies to the multifamily rental market.
“Renters post negative experiences, including violations of the FHA,” Sadovsky explained. This can even lead to lawsuits.
Fair Housing Non-Compliance
Perhaps the most significant case involving social media and fair housing laws is the lawsuit against Meta Platforms, previously known as Facebook. In 2022, the Department of Justice filed a complaint alleging that Facebook’s housing advertising system discriminated against users based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status and national origin. The complaint emphasized that Facebook’s algorithms utilized these characteristics to choose which users received housing ads, thus leading to discriminatory outcomes.
As part of the settlement, Facebook agreed to stop using the “Special Ad Audience” tool for housing ads and developed a new system—the Variance Reduction System—to address disparities caused by its algorithms.
Webinar: Fair Housing: Regulations, Risks and Responsibilities
Compliance practices
So, what steps can a property manager or marketing professional take to ensure fair housing compliance in their social media content?
“Owners/management companies/marketing teams must stay educated,” Sadovsky said. “HUD is funding local housing authorities to hire testers. Needless to say, testers look at social media and other forms of advertising.”
Specifically, to avoid violations and ensure compliance with fair housing laws on social media (and other forms of advertising), property managers, operators and marketing professionals have four main practices to follow: avoid discriminatory language, use inclusive advertising, provide regular training for staff on fair housing laws and regularly review and adjust algorithms used in targeted advertising to prevent unintentional discrimination.
Multifamily marketers should also avoid phrases that might inadvertently violate fair housing principles. According to Sadovsky, a few of these might include “Live right across the street from the Baptist church” or “American citizens preferred.”
This leads to a sensitive topic in social media campaigns—target marketing. How should property managers and marketing professionals tackle this aspect?
Sadovsky believes that target marketing is “a great way to get sued,” adding that the target market attitude should be nothing other than “everyone who meets the qualifying criteria is welcome.”
“Education is the answer,” Sadovsky concluded.
