Housing Discrimination Tester - Upcoming Training on 6/10

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Housing discrimination is rarely as obvious as a door being slammed in someone’s face. More often, housing discrimination is accompanied by a smile and someone wishing you to "have a nice day."

Silver State Fair Housing Council is actively recruiting volunteers who reflect the diversity of our community to be part of our housing discrimination tester program.

Housing discrimination testers are anonymous members of our community who are trained to gather information about housing practices by assuming an assigned role of a prospective home seeker, most often in a rental situation. Volunteers must be able to objectively and accurately report their experiences.

The Federal Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate in the sale, rental, or financing of housing based on race, color, religion, sex (gender), national origin, familial status (having children under 18 years old), or disability. In addition, Nevada State law prohibits discrimination based on ancestry, sexual orientation, and gender identity/expression. The testing process has been consistently supported by federal courts as a legitimate, necessary method to identify practices of unlawful housing discrimination.

We are looking for individuals who can be available to conduct tests Monday-Friday between the hours of 9am and 4pm, with testing occasionally on a Saturday. Your tests are scheduled based on your availability. Phone tests typically take from 1 to 1.5 hours and Site tests typically take from 2 to 2.5 hours.

You can become a housing discrimination tester with Silver State Fair Housing Council by attending a three-hour in-person training on Friday, June 10, 2022 from 9am to Noon. This training provides an overview of fair housing law, reviews the nature and structure of housing discrimination tests, and teaches potential testers how to report on their experiences. Additional trainings are scheduled on a regular basis.

HUD guidelines preclude persons convicted of a felony or crimes of fraud or perjury from participating in the volunteer program, and require screening for potential conflict of interest. Criminal background checks will be performed on all active volunteers.