April is Fair Housing Month

Updated 3/26/2025

The 1960s were a critical time in the civil rights movement in the United States — one piece of that was the fight for fair housing. Interested homebuyers had enough of being discriminated against based on race, color, religion, sex, disability and familial status — they wanted something that would protect their rights to own property. 

Many organizations and leaders — like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who led the open housing marches in Chicago, and the NAACP, the National Association of Real Estate Brokers and the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing — joined forces in the name of getting a fair housing bill to passage. Finally, in 1968, President Johnson passed the federal Fair Housing Act on April 11 in response to the assassination of Dr. King earlier that month. Under this law, homebuyers could not be discriminated against based on any of the following: 

• Race
• Color  
• Religion  

• Sex  
• Pregnancy  
• National origin  
• Ancestry  
• Age discrimination over the age of 40  

• Order of protection status  
• Marital status  
• Sexual orientation  
• Gender-related identity    
• Unfavorable military status discharge  

• Physical disability  
• Mental disability  
• Familial status 

Since its passing, the Act was amended and revised twice in 1974 and 1988 until it finally produced the Fair Housing Law of the United States in 2010. 

Fair Housing and Baird & Warner

Of all the work we've done since opening our doors, our fight for fair housing is one of our proudest accomplishments. During the ongoing fair housing debates at local, state and federal levels, our president John Baird took a stand.

He testified before the Chicago City Council and the state General Assembly, going as far as to resign from his position on the Chicago Real Estate Board in protest. As a result of his activism, John Baird received letters both supporting and opposing his stance. In a 1965 letter to an opponent of fair housing, he wrote eloquently that fair housing should be the law of the land if "this nation is going to survive as one of the great free nations of the world."

Today, Baird & Warner requires incoming agents to undergo fair housing training to make sure they understand the federal fair housing law. When they're fully armed with knowledge, agents can better serve their clients and fight for their rights, no matter their identity.

Fair Housing and You

Although the Fair Housing Act has been in place for more than 60 years, some people still face discrimination when it comes to housing. That's why organizations like the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) work hard to provide homeowners with a place to file complaints as well as compile data to better inform the community.

Here in Chicago, our Good Will Works partners at the UIC Fair Housing Legal Support Center & Clinic provide free legal assistance to people in the Chicago metropolitan area who have been illegally denied housing because of discrimination under federal, state and local fair housing laws and ordinances. Check out their website to file a complaint, apply for legal assistance or access resources on your housing rights! 

This Fair Housing Month, it's just as important as ever to understand the history behind the bill and the rights it protects. For more information on the Fair Housing Act, click here.