Chapter 22: Federal Legislation and Impact to the Real Estate (Mandatory Thread) Chapter 22 introduces four major pieces of federal legislation that have impacted the real estate industry and links federal involvement in housing to the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It is widely accepted that the federal, state and local governments have a vested interest along with their constitutional obligation to promote fair housing and equal access. Do you agree or disagree with this position that the federal government’s obligation to regulate the housing industry and real estate is linked to the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights? Justify your response. Which piece of federal legislation do you consider to be the most critical law that protects the public in matters related to fair housing? Why? In addition, during the past 5 years or so, Congress has aggressively passed legislation to protect homeowners from foreclosure. In your opinion, is that appropriate? Explain your position.

Chapter 22: Federal Legislation and Impact to the Real Estate 

It is indeed true that the position taken by the federal government on regulating housing and real estate at large is in line with the constitution of the US and the bill of rights. It is the responsibility of the Federal, State and Local governments to regulate the real estate industry and the transactions between the private citizens and the industry places. As such, federal government is justified in regulations such as discriminations and abuse by home owners to prospective buyers or tenants (Massey, 2015). Without the regulations by the federal government, most people might be abused by increased prices beyond the forces of demand and supply by corrupt dealers.

Massey (2015), posit that a classic example of such law is the Fair Housing Act of 1968 which is a law preventing discrimination based on gender, religion, sex, race, or sexual orientation. Such federal government regulation is anchored on the constitution of the US in the 5th amendment, and 14th amendment. These constitutional amendments protect the civil rights and bill of rights since they uphold human dignity and that a person cannot be discriminated based on their aforementioned aspects or any other form of discrimination (Massey, 2015).

As such, it is also appropriate as per congressional acts to protect homeowners from foreclosure. This is because some factors are beyond the home owners under mortgage like the financial crisis of 2008 saw most people lose their jobs and other sources of income. In addition, factors leading to increased source of income or stable jobs are politically related hence the home owners should be protected from bias in case of such unforeseen cases of financial instability to home owners.

References

Massey, D. S. (2015, June). The Legacy of the 1968 Fair Housing Act. In Sociological Forum (Vol. 30, pp. 571-588).