Word Ban at Corco
It’s going to be a lot harder for Corcoran brokers to let their creative juices flow from now on. Bowing to fears about anti-discrimination laws, the real estate brokerage giant has banned a couple of hundred words from the listing lexicon, reports The Post. Such potentially-offensive terms include “bachelor pad,” “family-friendly” and “exclusive.” Seems a…
It’s going to be a lot harder for Corcoran brokers to let their creative juices flow from now on. Bowing to fears about anti-discrimination laws, the real estate brokerage giant has banned a couple of hundred words from the listing lexicon, reports The Post. Such potentially-offensive terms include “bachelor pad,” “family-friendly” and “exclusive.” Seems a little much, no?
I agree mostly, slopefarm, but as a single, hearing disabled middleaged person I still didn’t find those words to be code. Other words- yes- but a bachelor pad usually meant “small, funky, in a nieghborhood with lots of bars and famly-friendly simply meant the LL and neighbors like children, and the apartment was large enough for a family if need be. Never saw that as “steering.” Other words though- very much..
DIBS and others, the issue isn’t (or shouldn’t be) whether an ad offends someone’s sensibilities, it is whether the ad uses code to steer applicants based on prohibited classiifications. It is true that enforcement can go overboard, but if LL uses “bachelor pad” it sounds like LL won’t accept tenants with children, and the prospective tenant won’t bother to look and will look elsewhere. Saves the LL from having to discriminate against the family if teh family doesn’t apply. The reverse is true for “great for families” steering singles and shares away (until recently, when gay and lesbian families with children became more common, this could also have been viewed as anti-gay steering as well). The fair housing laws haven’t changed in a long time, but enforcement needs to keep up with the increasingly subtle ways some LLs may continue to try to discriminate.
However, enforcement can and does lead to silliness. For example, if I were in a wheelchair, I don’t think I would be steered away by an ad that said “walking distance to park” (or even “steps to”) because I would know that it would also be within “wheeling distance.” Bans on language due to potential offense taken, rather than steering, seem to have little to do with the fair housing laws.
Silliness aside, it really isn’t hard to do an ad that puts an apartment’s best face forward without resorting to code. Just show the pictures, describe the amenities, brag about best features, and list the essential info.
armchairwarrior- that’s because we have gone from pc to pc stupidity. There are some things people really need to edit- prejudice and discrimination are ugly. But this is so far into the realm of idiocy that I am trying to decide if i should be laughing hysterically or sobbing piteously.
Biff- you make the tagline sound like Brooklyn, CSI.
some of those words you can’t use is lame, how would a person know about the area or distance etc.. it has become way too pc.
Corcoran had an apartment for rent sign up in front of the building on Stuyvesant Ave that babs bought. the apartment was a 1 bedroom for $1,500 and it was up for about a week. Looks likme the tenants are already in with all the cardboard boxes out in front today for recycling pickup.
One for Team Bull.
And the Brownstoner tagline “brooklyn inside and out” is not appropriate for young children to see.
‘Bachelor pad’ is pretty dumb. Sounds like what your mom’s friends call your first apartment. Can’t recall ever seeing it in a RE ad, though.
I think Indian and Pakistani marijuana smokers should be offended by the name of this blog!!