The following information on linguistic profiling is excerpted from an article by Naleen Green, written for Multi-Housing News.
Landlords can now be sued for discriminatory housing decisions based on the way people talk on the telephone. This is called linguistic profiling and some studies indicate that most of us can determine a person’s race (particularly white or black) or national origin (such as Hispanic or Asian) just by hearing a person count from one to 20. Prospects may now be able to have their day in court simply by alleging that they weren’t offered an apartment or set up an appointment because the landlord knew that they were of a particular race or ethnic group based solely on the telephone conversation. The wise property manager or owner will work with leasing staff to develop some telephone procedures to better ensure that this claim cannot be made; at the very least every telephone prospect should be asked if they would like to make an appointment to visit the property.
