 |
Questions? Call 888-624-8373 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
The following HTML text is provided to enhance online
readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML.
Please use the page image
as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy.
Page 38
6
Auditing Discrimination in Underserved
Communities
As noted earlier, underserved communities are those portions of the
housing market that are not included in the HDS sampling frame used
to select test sites or newspaper advertisements. For purposes of
the 2000 HDS, there are two types of underserved communities: (1)
neighborhoods that are underrepresented among advertisements in
large metropolitan area newspapers, and (2) smaller metropolitan
areas with 25,000 to 100,000 residents. In discussing the question
of how discrimination in these communities can be audited,
participants addressed issues of racial residential concentration,
racial steering, racial preferences for neighborhood racial
composition, and the distinction between statistical discrimination
and individual incidences of discrimination.
Reflecting on her own research, Nancy Denton noted an apparent
middle-class bias to using a sample of advertisements to construct
the audit. This potential bias raises issues that are both
statistical and substantive. Denton linked the auditors who are
recruited to perform tests to actual home seekers in underserved
communities. She observed that if the definition of underserved
includes only communities that are missed by the methodology used
to select advertisements, researchers have failed to recognize that
these areas include poor communities that are underserved in other
ways as well. They are underserved by realtors, who do not want to
advertise them, and by banks, which do not want to provide
potential home buyers with mortgages. These communities are also
underserved by entities that are indirectly related to housing
opportunities but potentially re
|
|
|
|
|
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 38
Page 38
6
Auditing Discrimination in Underserved
Communities
As noted earlier, underserved communities are those portions of the
housing market that are not included in the HDS sampling frame used
to select test sites or newspaper advertisements. For purposes of
the 2000 HDS, there are two types of underserved communities: (1)
neighborhoods that are underrepresented among advertisements in
large metropolitan area newspapers, and (2) smaller metropolitan
areas with 25,000 to 100,000 residents. In discussing the question
of how discrimination in these communities can be audited,
participants addressed issues of racial residential concentration,
racial steering, racial preferences for neighborhood racial
composition, and the distinction between statistical discrimination
and individual incidences of discrimination.
Reflecting on her own research, Nancy Denton noted an apparent
middle-class bias to using a sample of advertisements to construct
the audit. This potential bias raises issues that are both
statistical and substantive. Denton linked the auditors who are
recruited to perform tests to actual home seekers in underserved
communities. She observed that if the definition of underserved
includes only communities that are missed by the methodology used
to select advertisements, researchers have failed to recognize that
these areas include poor communities that are underserved in other
ways as well. They are underserved by realtors, who do not want to
advertise them, and by banks, which do not want to provide
potential home buyers with mortgages. These communities are also
underserved by entities that are indirectly related to housing
opportunities but potentially re
OCR for page 39
Page 39
lated to housing choices and search patterns, such as businesses and
municipal services. Transportation access and education resources are
also limited in these communities.
The varying extent to which these communities are underserved has
methodological implications. In some poor communities, no housing is
advertised; these communities will be missed regardless of the
sampling methodology. Similarly, housing opportunities in gated
communities and some working-class communities are unadvertised.
Denton also noted that some housing is advertised in non-English
language newspapers because the advertiser is targeting immigrants or
non-American applicants, and some housing is not advertised because
the landlord does not want applicants of a different race. As noted
earlier, these housing units may not be captured by the expanded
methodology proposed for Phase II of the study. Additionally, Denton
suggested that researchers should consider whether the auditors could
realistically assume the identities of potential home seekers in
underserved communities, whose members may possess characteristics
that are difficult for an auditor from a major metropolitan area to
assume or portray. Moreover, housing search patterns may differ across
income levels, and these differences can have implications for
matching auditors and assigning auditor profiles. Denton commented
that housing transactions for marginally qualified and overly
qualified applicants are also very different, and these differences
have implications for the audit results, particularly in terms of
unmeasured heterogeneity. The question arises of whether auditors are
paired well enough to diminish the effect of this heterogeneity and
the potential discrepancies between auditors' actual characteristics
and their assigned profiles. Participants recognized that auditors are
extensively trained to portray various types of home seekers and that
their assigned profiles may require them to depict individuals with
attributes dissimilar to their own. Denton suggested, however, that it
is important to consider whether auditors are trained well enough or
inherently capable of assuming identities that are beyond their scope
of knowledge. She noted that these issues are particularly salient
when auditors visit certain kinds of communities, such as low-income
or mono-ethnic communities.
Denton cautioned researchers to consider potential problems with
sending auditors from fair housing agencies in larger metropolitan
areas to smaller underserved areas, which are unlikely to have a fair
housing agency. Additionally, she posed several questions with regard
to those agencies' recruitment and training methods: Can a
middle-income auditor with no children effectively portray a
low-income single mother? Can an employed
OCR for page 40
Page 40
auditor who has never received public assistance effectively portray a
home seeker who has just obtained his or her first job after receiving
public assistance for many years? Can a low- or moderate-income
auditor effectively audit housing units that require very high
incomes? Denton expressed her belief that there are limits to the
auditors' portrayals, and that auditor training does not eliminate
these limitations.
An additional drawback of the current methodology for auditing
underserved communities relates to potential differences in housing
search methods as compared with major metropolitan areas. Prior
research by Denton and others has shown that residents in underserved
communities are less likely to use a real estate agent during their
housing search. They may also be less likely to drive around several
communities to locate a desired neighborhood or housing unit.
According to Denton, audit protocols and auditor profiles must take
these potential differences into account.
In her concluding remarks, Denton suggested that researchers should
consider substantive issues such as those outlined above before
addressing the technical aspects of auditing and measuring
discrimination. She stressed that, while it is important to develop a
valid, scientifically defensible estimate of the extent of housing
discrimination in the national market, researchers will be unable to
derive a proper estimate if they limit the scope of audit studies to
the middle of the housing market.
EFFECT OF NEIGHBORHOOD RACIAL PREFERENCE ON
INTERPRETATION OF AUDIT RESULTS
Lawrence Bobo, Department of Sociology, Harvard University,
discussed his research in Los Angeles on urban inequality and the
work of others in this research area. Bobo's research assessed
residents' preferences for the racial composition of their
neighborhoods. Results of the study indicate that preferences for
the racial composition of neighborhoods are related to race. Bobo
noted that the study did not lead to recommendations on how to
sample housing units or assign auditors, but that its results have
implications for the interpretation of results of the HDS,
particularly with regard to rates of housing discrimination.
Bobo's data indicate clearly that in the general housing market,
some communities are more likely to accept or reject particular
racial groups. These attitudes are held by both majority and
minority residents and can have implications for the way applicants
of a given race are treated in a housing market transaction.
Research on racial residential segregation also
OCR for page 41
Page 41
confirms that many neighborhoods are racially typified (e.g., as a
Hispanic neighborhood). Such typifying affects whether certain groups
will pursue housing in these neighborhoods. Bobo expressed concern
that the current method of sampling advertisements does not account
for these kinds of community dynamics and the interaction between
racial preference and housing search patterns. He suggested that it is
insufficient to randomly sample advertisements in local
community-based newspapers because dif-ferent racial groups may
consider varying segments of the housing market. Some racial groups
may exclude housing opportunities in certain neighborhoods from their
housing search. Research on racial residential segregation might help
identify neighborhoods or communities that are not included in the
housing search of certain racial groups.
A participant asked about the implications of the Los Angeles study
for the “tipping point” of a community—the point at
which people start moving out because of increases in the proportion
of minority residents—and the relationship to housing
availability. Neighborhood racial preference could affect the vacancy
rates in particular neighborhoods. Specifically, the sample of
advertisements may include a higher proportion of mixed or racially
transitional neighborhoods as majority households move out because of
increases in the proportion of minorities. The sampling methodology
may miss stable all-white or all-minority neighborhoods where there is
less movement.
In response to Bobo's comments, Margery Turner of the Urban Institute
stated that empirical experience from the 1989 HDS suggests that
minority communities, especially those in the central city, are
underrepresented in the HDS newspaper advertisement sample. It is not
known whether protected white communities in the suburbs are also
underrepresented. It is clear, however, that middle- and high-income
minority communities were underrepresented in the 1989 sample of
advertisements. Participants discussed the need for data on the
turnover rate for rental and sales housing for both racially stable
and transitional communities. While researchers can obtain information
on housing stock, basic turnover rate data do not exist on a national
level.
A participant asked whether the 1989 HDS provided some evidence that
housing agents advertise units they are willing to show to anyone,
regardless of race. This behavior would result in a lower incidence of
racial steering. Turner responded that because minority and mixed
neighborhoods were underrepresented in the 1989 newspaper
advertisement sample, minority auditors were generally shown housing
units in white neighbor
OCR for page 42
Page 42
hoods. Researchers noted that in 1989 there was some steering to
lowervalue neighborhoods, but not much steering to neighborhoods with
a higher proportion of minorities, because the latter were
underrepresented in the sample.
RACIAL STEERING
Bobo noted that the existence of racial steering has implications
for the current HDS study design and interpretation. If real estate
agents have, and act upon, assumptions about housing seekers'
racial preferences in residence, individual home seekers will not
be shown housing units in certain neighborhoods as a result.
A participant presented an alternative motivation for racial
steering by housing providers, suggesting they may be motivated by
profit maximization rather than racial prejudice or agents'
perceptions of client or community preferences. Housing providers
may be more likely to steer white customers to white neighborhoods
because they think doing so will minimize the amount of time it
takes to fill vacant units. Housing agents operating in this manner
will be less worried about the preferences of minority applicants.
They will, however, be concerned with the effect of renting or
selling to an African American customer on their current or
potential clients in white neighborhoods. Evidence of this behavior
may be found in steering of white households away from minority
neighborhoods or steering of minority households away from white
neighborhoods. Bobo noted it is not clear that this form of racial
steering hurts whites, unless one takes a broader view of
discrimination and its general effect on society.
According to Bobo, the above processes are confirmed by
respondents' views on neighborhood desirability as reported in the
Los Angeles area study. Many white residents considered affluent
majority African American communities to be less desirable than
lower-valued white communities. Community-held views of
neighborhood racial composition may therefore propagate racial
residential segregation. These results suggest that the random
selection of advertisements from newspapers does not account for
neighborhood self-selection exhibited by actual home seekers.
Bobo commented further that the steering of white households may
actually hurt African American homeowners by changing the demand
for their housing. Urban Institute researchers cited evidence from
the 1989 HDS that a requested housing unit's characteristics and
location served as a signal to real estate agents and housing
providers with regard to the type of
OCR for page 43
Page 43
neighborhood to which the requester should be directed. The
researchers believe it is important to consider the broad methodology
used for picking an advertised unit and selecting two auditors who are
requesting that unit. Requesting an advertised unit appears to
influence behavior in a specific way: if an auditor asks for a unit in
a certain type of neighborhood, he or she will be more likely to view
additional units in that type of neighborhood. Real estate agents are
prompted by any information they can obtain to serve their customer,
but they do not apply that information in a raceneutral manner. Bobo
noted that observed steering behaviors based on requests for
advertised units vary by race.
ISSUES SPECIFIC TO ASIAN AMERICAN AND
AMERICAN INDIAN POPULATIONS
As noted in Chapter 1, an important, new
goal of the 2000 HDS is to develop estimates of housing
discrimination for Asian Americans and American Indians. Workshop
participants addressed the potential impact of testing involving
these populations.
Min Zhou, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S.
Department of Education, offered some comments about the study
design and substantive issues related to auditing within the Asian
American and American Indian communities. She noted that the
potential bias against immigrants has implications for audits
performed in metropolitan areas. Moreover, metropolitan areas with
high proportions of immigrant residents often have a different
housing market structure from that of other metropolitan areas. For
example, minority immigrants tend to concentrate in certain
neighborhoods and to have their own housing market. As a result,
there may be several housing submarkets operating within a
metropolitan area: (1) exclusively majority, (2) exclusively
African American or Hispanic, (3) mixed or “open,” and
(4) exclusively Asian American. In addition, Asian ethnic groups
further segment the latter housing market. The dynamics of these
housing markets are different from those of the general housing
market.
Zhou explained that real estate agencies are a very important part
of the Chinese and Korean ethnic economy and that they tend to
target particular ethnic groups in advertising. Advertising
patterns within the Asian American submarkets suggest there may
also be discrimination against other ethnic and racial groups.
Asian Americans locate available housing by speaking with other
members of their ethnic group or reading ethnic news
OCR for page 44
Page 44
papers. Since these newspapers are written in Chinese or Korean,
responding to their advertisements may not represent a realistic point
of entry into the market for auditors from other ethnic groups. Zhou
stressed that researchers must recognize these alternative points of
entry because they are where a substantial proportion of inquiries by
Asian American home seekers begin. The current HDS newspaper sampling
methodology would miss these sources, but including them in the
expanded sampling frame might not be appropriate. Thus, according to
Zhou, there are portions of the housing market that are inaccessible
by the audit study design.
Zhou suggested expanding the concept of discrimination. The current
study estimates mainly discrimination by whites against African
Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and American Indians. It does
not explore the pattern of discrimination exhibited by Asian or
Hispanic housing providers. Zhou's definition of discrimination is
more varied because it includes Asians discriminating against Asians,
Hispanics, and African Americans.
In terms of white discrimination against Asian Americans, Zhou
observed that Asian Americans who speak with an accent can be viewed
as foreign and treated on the basis of stereotypes associated with
foreigners. She used as an example the stereotype that immigrant
Asians have the financial resources to purchase housing with cash or
make a substantial down payment. In addition, there are negative
stereotypes associated with working-class Asians and perceived
differences in lifestyle. Thus, the stereotypes applied may be
positive or negative and may result in differential behavior by the
housing agent.
Zhou observed that many Asian Americans are unfamiliar with fair
housing laws and are not aware of their rights under the Fair Housing
Act. She noted there is substantial anecdotal evidence of racial
steering for Asian American households. This steering is carried out
by housing providers, as well as friends and family of the home
seeker, and is perceived as being helpful. Zhou also cited the
increasing tendency of real estate agencies to hire Asian or Hispanic
agents. It is unclear, however, whether the objective is to
systematically steer or to legitimately assist home seekers.
The amount of money applicants are asked to provide for a down payment
or security deposit is another example of housing market
discrimination against Asian Americans. While overall mortgage denial
rates may be lower for Asian Americans than for other minority groups,
Asian Americans may pay a higher proportional down payment. This
larger per
OCR for page 45
Page 45
centage will increase the chances that the mortgage will be
originated, but may not be viewed as discrimination when analyzing
market-level data.
A participant asked whether the extent of heterogeneity among Asian
Americans prevents researchers from measuring discrimination in that
group. Zhou responded that the HDS does not include sufficient
observations to explore discrimination across ethnic groups within the
Asian community, and that case studies would be more effective for
this purpose. She noted further that there is considerable diversity
within the Hispanic population, but that Hispanics and African
Americans may have common historical or cultural experiences that
result in similarities in their discrimination experiences. Thus
differences in language, religion, and national origin among Asian
populations present substantial difficulties for interpreting audit
results.
Responding to Zhou, Stephen Fienberg noted that her observations imply
there are separate universes with distinct sampling frames from which
measurements are made. Housing availability notices and housing market
transactions may be structured differently in these markets and vary
across test sites. To the extent that these structures are not known
and sampling of advertisements is not viable, many underserved
communities will be missed. Joseph Altonji suggested a way of
addressing multiple listing sources for advertisements and
differential access to advertisements in some sources: (1) combine
advertisements from all newspaper sources—including non-English
language papers, and (2) use audit results to assess which
advertisement sources are open to all groups regardless of race.
Assuming advertisements in papers of a certain language are open only
to that ethnic group (e.g., Korean or Chinese), researchers could draw
conclusions about equal access for underserved populations. Altonji
added that the assumption might not be appropriate for
Spanish-language papers that serve Hispanic communities because a
larger proportion of the non-Hispanic population speaks Spanish than
speaks Chinese or Korean. Conclusions about the penetration of various
sources into underserved communities and the reasonableness of sending
majority auditors to units advertised in ethnic papers may require
going beyond the auditing framework to assess discrimination against
particular ethnic groups.
The discussion of auditing in Asian communities also addressed the
question of whether the paradigm of paired testing makes sense in
segregated housing markets that attempt to accept only Asian ethnic
groups. Some participants suggested that the best way to understand
this issue is within the framework of varying degrees of
discrimination. In this
OCR for page 46
Page 46
conceptualization, there is some discrimination that is essentially
benign and serves to meet the needs of populations underserved by the
general housing market. This discrimination is viewed as beneficial
because it is a parochial phenomenon, initiated by people who are
trying to help individuals who might otherwise be discriminated
against by the majority group. On the other hand, some participants
stressed that every act of discrimination, regardless of the
initiating or benefiting group, is legally wrong.
Research confirms that housing choice and household neighborhood
preferences are issues within Asian communities. Focus group research
associated with the Los Angeles study addressed issues of housing,
employment, and intergroup relations. Within the Korean focus groups,
each individual found his or her job through one source—the
Korean Daily News. This finding was not characteristic of any
other group, including the Chinese focus group, whose members, like
those of the Korean group, were 100 percent foreign born. The focus
group results for the Los Angeles study also inform the design of the
HDS audits. For populations with a large proportion of foreign-born
members, the major metropolitan newspaper will not fully capture the
housing dynamics faced by underserved individuals.
There was a brief discussion of auditing in American Indian and rural
communities. Participants considered the idea of addressing
acknowledged difficulties in auditing in rural communities by linking
auxiliary studies in Phase II with other data collected by the Urban
Institute. The question of how American Indian communities are defined
was raised. Researchers responded that the communities to be audited
are not on tribal land, but in a fairly large metropolitan area and
one small metropolitan area that adjoins tribal lands. To achieve
adequate coverage of available housing in these areas, the newspaper
sampling frame combines up to ten rural and small-town newspapers. The
audits will assess whether the basic measures of differential
treatment apply in American Indian communities.
The Urban Institute researchers commented on pilot studies in American
Indian communities. Pilot testing has revealed that for American
Indians, the definition of available housing stock must be expanded
beyond the existing protocol to include manufactured housing. American
Indian populations tend to be concentrated in small, rural
metropolitan areas in which this form of housing is more prevalent.
Further, this housing type is not typically advertised in major
metropolitan newspapers. Researchers plan to consult with the local
fair housing agency to find a point of entry into these
OCR for page 47
Page 47
underserved communities. Additional sources for available housing
stock are community newspapers and postings in community centers or on
the Internet.
Results from the pilot studies will provide substantial information
about how to sample beyond a single metropolitan newspaper in small
communities and adjoining rural counties. Researchers also expect to
learn a great deal about whether and how to recruit American Indians
as auditors. The pilot studies will be informative as well about the
feasibility of sending white auditors into adjoining counties that
have a high proportion of American Indian households. Results from the
smaller pilot studies will be used to determine the feasibility of
replicating the study of these communities on a larger scale.
Participants asked whether the underserved communities would be
analyzed separately given the number of audits performed. The audit
report will include simple comparisons and will address differences in
patterns of discrimination and the existence of a racial dimension to
those differences. Participants also inquired about the extent to
which HUD is interested in alternative methodology that could make it
possible to estimate discrimination in underserved communities and
provide supplementary information for the HDS on the relationship
between race and housing search patterns, as well as other housing
market characteristics. In addition, participants discussed the
importance of research studies addressing the identification of an
unbiased point of entry into the market that would allow for
comparisons, measurement, and analysis of issues related to the
sampling design and model estimates and other aspects of the study
design. Housing research studies focused on these issues could lead to
improvements in the HDS audit design.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
asian americans
Items in cart [0]
