Zillow Group and New Jersey Division on Civil Rights Join Forces to Tackle Housing Discrimination

TRENTON, NJ – Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division on Civil Rights (DCR) announced today an expanded agreement with Zillow Group, Inc. (Zillow), a leading online real estate and rental marketplace company, to address and prevent housing discrimination in New Jersey. The collaboration focuses on protecting prospective tenants seeking to pay rent with federal, state, or local rental assistance and those with criminal histories.

This partnership expands upon the 2020 Statement of Collaboration between DCR and Zillow, which aimed to combat housing discrimination against recipients of rental assistance. The new agreement extends to address violations of the Fair Chance in Housing Act (FCHA), a groundbreaking New Jersey law that restricts a landlord or housing provider's ability to consider a rental applicant's criminal history.

In honor of National Fair Housing Month, Zillow and DCR will collaborate on content-filtering terms to detect and remove advertisements that unlawfully discriminate based on source of lawful income and those that violate the FCHA. Zillow will also inform all New Jersey advertisers about their obligations under the FCHA and New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) and work together on efforts to educate housing providers on the requirements of these laws.

Attorney General Platkin said, "When Governor Murphy signed the Fair Chance Housing Act in 2022, New Jersey enacted the first state law in the country to protect individuals with criminal records from being unfairly denied safe, affordable housing. We are committed to promoting and enforcing those protections through collaborations like the one we are announcing today that seek to eliminate discriminatory conduct on rental platforms."

The expanded agreement includes updating and improving the content-filtering terms Zillow uses to identify and remove discriminatory advertisements, as well as establishing a reporting process for DCR to report potential LAD and FCHA violations to Zillow. The partnership will also include educational efforts, such as posting DCR fact sheets and materials on Zillow's web portals and sending DCR educational materials to New Jersey advertisers annually.

Sundeep Iyer, Director of the Division on Civil Rights, said, "Our collaboration with Zillow is another critical step in our ongoing efforts to address and prevent housing discrimination, and to ensure that housing providers comply with their obligations under this landmark law."

The collaboration with Zillow is part of DCR's ongoing efforts to address housing discrimination during National Fair Housing Month, which marks the 55th anniversary of the federal Fair Housing Act. In recognition of this month, DCR is hosting numerous trainings and presentations across the state on the housing protections provided by the LAD and the FCHA.