DESERT MASTERS REALTY
“Masters in Arizona Real Estate”
Investor News
Volume 7, Issue 05
May 2013
Fair Housing—How We Minimize Your Liability
Table of Contents
Feature Article—Fair Housing
In the real estate world Fair Housing is a phrase that gets
everyone’s attention. Specializing in Property Management,
practicing Fair Housing correctly, is an actual pillar that is
necessary to running a successful property management
business.
Special Points of Interest
NARPM Update
The Company Story...
What exactly is Fair Housing? It is the protection of individuals who fall under the following protective classes:

Race

Color

Nationality

Religion

Disability

Familial Status

Sex

Sexual Orientation (possible future class)
Market Update
Pig in Chocolate Recipe
Disclaimer
Special points of interest:

I am hoping to have the
It cannot be stressed enough as to the importance of Fair
Housing and knowing how to avoid discrimination accusations. It is much easier than you think to get caught up in a
fair housing situation and not even realize it. Our everyday
actions can be confused with a discriminatory act and we are
not even aware. Some common examples of violating the
Fair Housing Laws can be just by answering the phone. Here
are some examples of situations that can happen on a daily
bases and you do not even realize that you could be discriminating.
new website going by end
of June. It should be very
easy to find the information that you are looking for and we added some
nice features such as City
links for utilities.

We have a toll-free number. It is (888) 418-1683.
For those of you out of
It is a busy day, the phones are ringing constantly, you have
someone standing in front of your desk tapping their tow
waiting for you to take care of them. The phone rings and a
purple person has questions and wants to see a home for
sale or rent. Your other line rings, the person that was
standing in front of your desk is now getting irritated and to
hurry and get off the phone you are short with your answers
state, please feel free to
use it. Contact your property manager for their
direct extension.
National Association of Residential Property Management (NARPM) - Update
The National Association of Residential Property Management is an organization designed to educate
licensed Realtors who specialize in Property Management. Kim Ayers is on the Board of Directors and
holds the Secretary position and Board Meetings are held for members every third Thursday of the month.
Each meeting we have a guest speaker who will discuss trends or hot topics that are occurring in our industry.
This months Topic: Guest Speaker, Susan Jahns—”Know What Your Tenant Knows”
April was Fair Housing Month. In honor of this, NARPM offered its members a free
Fair Housing class called “Know What Your Tenant Knows”. We discussed various fair
housing issues that arise in the property management industry. It was a little different perspective which was refreshing because we actually viewed fair housing from a
tenant’s perspective and not as a property manager. We learned common trends
that a tenant would go through when looking for a rental property. How they search
for properties, what they are looking for and how they protect themselves from common fair housing violations.
The Company Story...
We’re on the Web!
Www.DesertMastersRealty.com.
17645 E. Stacey Rd.
Queen Creek, AZ 85142
Phone: 480-888-1288
Mobile: 480-244-6156
Fax: (888) 958-1836
Email: [email protected]
www.DesertMastersRealty.com
Desert Masters Realty is a full-service real estate company. We
were founded in 2012 but preceded by Montaña Vista Realty.
The Owner/Broker, Kim Ayers, has been in the industry for
over 6 years. Our purpose is to assist the consumer with all
their Real Estate needs and to protect their interests using professionalism and integrity. Desert Masters Realty is family oriented and our family of agents is growing in numbers. We have
a strong knowledge base in all areas of real estate to include but
not limited to residential, property management, land, and
commercial sales.
For more information regarding our company please contact
Kimberly Ayers at (480) 244-6156
Kimberly Ayers
Broker/Owner
To remove your name from our mailing list, please click here.
Questions or comments? E-mail us at [email protected] or call (480) 888-1288
National Association of Residential Property Management
Market Update
Rental Market
To view the latest rental market trends, select the link below:
April Rent Check
Sales Market
To view the latest sales trends, select the links below:
Listing
Sales
Fair Housing—(Cont)
and do not offer to show them the home for sale or rent. After a while, everything quiets
down. Your phone rings again and now you have time to talk. The blue person asks questions about the same home as the purple person. This time, you answer all the questions and
offer to show them the property. Without even knowing it, you have just discriminated
against the purple person.
What about someone who refuses to rent to a person with a disability because they do not
want to make reasonable structural modifications to their home? The modifications even
though reasonable, can be costly. Or even worse, what if the tenant leaves the home without
restoring it back to its original state. Most owners are nervous renting to individuals who
ask for these modifications, but if you refuse, you are in violation of Fair Housing.
Even more common in Arizona is not wanting to rent to a family with a young child because
there is a pool in the backyard. Owners are required to install pool fencing around the pool.
This could be a substantial cost. Sometimes owners want to refuse to install the fencing. In
some cases its not even about the money for the fencing, the owner of the rental property just
doesn’t want to risk a child drowning on their property. Not renting to a person with young
children, is a Fair Housing violation.
Because these issues are a common occurrence, a good property manager will have business
practices in place to ensure that their owners and themselves are protected. For example, we
are consistent. We show the property to all who wish to see it. No matter how busy we are,
we take the time to answer all inquiries on the subject property. We also have an application
approval process where each application is processed the same. So when all the applications
have been submitted, we are looking at a summary sheet for each applicant. We take out the
ability to have an “opinion”. We advise our clients before we put the home on the market for
rent that pool fencing is required and we ensure that necessary precautions are taken care of
before we even show the home. This prevents owners from making decisions on the spot
that could hurt them without them even realizing it.
The cost of a Fair Housing violation is not worth the time for a phone call, a pool fence or
reasonable structural accommodations for someone with a disability. The fines can be hefty
and licensed real estate agents can lose their license. Be aware of your actions and make sure
you treat all people equally.
Piggy’s in the Mud Recipe
This is the easy, short recipe:
1) Build a barrel out of Kit Kats.
2) Fill with sweet, sweet Nutella.
3) Buy some little piggies from the cake store, shove them in face first so we can see
their cute little arses… and you’re done.
This is the long version translated from Dutch to English:
Ingredients: a cake (20cm diameter) * 2 large 200 gr milk chocolate bars * 250 ml
cream * filling (for example fruit/(whipped)cream/buttercream * 3 kit kat 5-packs
(aka 15 kit kats) * 250 gr light pink marzipan.
Equipment: knife to cut the cake * ribbon * flat plate/something else to put the cake
on.
Preparation:
The pigs are made ahead of time (no real description is given), or you just buy them
from your local cake store.
Put the cream in a pan and heat to just below boiling point while stirring. Meanwhile
break the chocolate into blocks. When the cream nearly boils turn off the heat and
add the bits of chocolate in parts. Stir well until the mixture is smooth. Let this cool
and thicken while you occasionally stir (this takes a while).
Meanwhile cut the cake in two layers and fill with your filling of choice. Keep the cake
on a plank or something else which is easy to spin around because the sides need to
be covered later. Break the Kit Kats in half. Check the chocolate mixture, when the
texture resembles that of custard you can use it to cover the sides. Use a spatula or
smooth knife for this.
When you’ve covered the sides of the cake you can add the Kit Kats. They won’t stick
yet, so lean them against the cake at a slight angle, then when you’ve set them all up
quickly tie the ribbon and straighten them out.
When the rest of the chocolate mixture is thicker pour it on to the top of the cake. Important: if the mixture flows too easily it will flow through the gaps between the Kit
Kats!
Now put the piglets in the soft chocolate and put the cake in the fridge.
After about an hour the cake is ready to serve
The material in this newsletter is presented as general information only. It is not intended
as legal, financial or real estate advice and must not be relied on as such. You should make
your own inquiries and obtain independent professional advice tailored to your specific
circumstances before making any legal, financial or real estate decisions.