Released: October 05, 2006

Housing discrimination by Corcoran Group alleged

Contact: The National Fair Housing Alliance

On Tuesday, October 10, 2006, The National Fair Housing Alliance will announce the filing of a housing discrimination complaint and disclose details of its undercover real estate sales investigation of The Corcoran Group, a residential real estate firm with an office located in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY.

The Corcoran Group is a member of NRT, Inc.  NRT, Inc. is the largest residential real estate brokerage in the country with 1,000 offices and 64,000 agents nationwide.  NRT, Inc. operates such brand names as Coldwell Banker®, Coldwell Banker Commercial®, ERA®, Sotheby’s International Realty® and The Corcoran Group®.

The complaint is the result of a housing investigation that uncovered blatant and egregious acts of housing discrimination against African-Americans. Real estate agents engaged in racial steering and restricted the choice of homeseekers—one agent even went so far as to draw red lines on a Brooklyn map to illustrate areas whites should seek housing. 

A Senior Vice President of NRT, Inc. is the current president of the National Association of Realtors. The National Fair Housing Alliance has filed three complaints against NRT, Inc. during the past year charging similar blatant acts of steering and discrimination: Atlanta, GA (Coldwell Banker “The Condo Store”); Marietta, GA (Coldwell Banker Marietta); and Chicago, IL (Coldwell Banker Gold Coast).

The Corcoran Group complaint alleges a pattern and practice of discrimination by the company and the parent brokerage company, NRT, Inc. Shanna Smith, National Fair Housing Alliance President & CEO, will speak.

What: News Conference hosted by the National Fair Housing Alliance
Where: New York Society for Ethical Culture – Adler Study, 2 West 64th Street @ Central Park West, Manhattan, NY
When: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 at 10:00 a.m.

Contacts:  Shanna Smith, (202) 898-1661; Deidre Swesnik, (202) 277-4437