Volunteer Opportunity Details:

Fight housing discrimination! The Austin Tenants’ Council needs your help in gathering information about housing practices in Austin. Volunteers are needed who can objectively gather and report information about the availability of housing while posing as a prospective renter or homebuyer. Testers receive training and a stipend for completed tests along with reimbursement for actual costs such as mileage.

Fair housing testing provides an objective means to determine whether prospective renters or buyers are treated differently in violation of the Fair Housing Act. Testers are matched based on income, credit history, and other factors relevant to the home buying or leasing process. The seven protected classes identified under the Fair Housing Act are race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual harassment), religion, disability, and familial status.

1. The Austin Tenants’ Council needs persons of all races, ethnicities, and religions, handicapped individuals, and persons with children to serve as fair housing testers. Persons, both male and female, of all colors, ages, shapes, and sizes, are needed so that we maintain a large and diverse tester pool. Non-minority persons are also needed because they often serve/act as comparison testers in fair housing tests, and many fair housing tests do not concern race.
   
   
2. Persons who wish to become fair housing testers must attend tester-training workshops held by fair housing testing coordinators. Testers are expected to follow the procedures in the tester manual as well as specific instructions for each test they perform.
   
   
3. Fair housing testers are actors who feel comfortable playing the role of a home seeker, whether that is of a renter, homebuyer, or someone seeking home financing or insurance.
   
   
4. Testers are objective observers of events. It is not a tester’s responsibility to determine whether they are being discriminated against or whether or not a housing provider is guilty of housing discrimination. Testers must simply play their assigned role, observe all the events of the test, and immediately afterward fully and accurately complete the test report.
   
   
5. Testers are accurate recorders of events. Testers are expected to write an accurate and complete record of their test in a test report and narrative. Testers must write legibly and coherently.
   
   
6. HUD regulations state that persons who have been convicted of a crime involving fraud or perjury may not serve as fair housing testers. In addition, HUD regulations restrict ATC from allowing persons who have specific biases or conflicts of interest, such as those involving employment, family or relatives, business competitors, or economic interests, from becoming fair housing testers.
   
   
7. As necessary, fair housing testers are expected to serve as witnesses in court trials, depositions, or administrative hearings.
   
   
8. Testers must be reliable. ATC must be able to count on testers to perform their tests at the assigned time, complete test reports fully and accurately immediately after the test, and keep all appointments to meet with the test coordinator.
   
   
9. Testers must maintain strict confidentiality about all aspects of their service as fair housing testers for ATC -- that they are a tester, where they have tested, who they spoke with during a test, etc. Usually, only a tester’s spouse or partner and immediate family need to know about their service as a fair housing tester for ATC.
   
   
10. Testers are not asked to make a rigid time commitment to ATC. Most fair housing testers for ATC have many other family and work responsibilities. We ask testers to perform tests on an as needed basis. This means that testers may be asked to perform several tests one month and few or none the next. Some testers perform as many as two or three tests per week while others perform as few as two or three tests per year.
    
    
11. Testers must keep ATC informed of any changes in address, phone number, employment, contact information, availability, and other information given on the tester personal data form.

This opportunity is sponsored by: Austin Tenants' Council

Volunteers will work with the following groups Adults (26-54) Minorities Disabled / Ill Older Adults (55+) Families / Parents Women Low-income / Poverty Young Adults (18-25) Men We need volunteers who are free at these times Evenings Weekends Weekdays This volunteer opportunity is available to the following types of volunteers Adults (26-54) Unpaid Interns Adults (55+) Young Adults (18-25) Individual This volunteer opportunity addresses the following social interests Advocacy & Human Rights Housing Disabilities Nonprofit Organization

I'm interested in this opportunity

Contact Person: Morgan Morrison, Program Coordinator, (512) 474-7007, (email) View all agency contacts

Address:


1940-B East 2nd Street, Suite 150 Austin, TX 78702 (See a map)

Details where opportunity can also be performed

This opportunity can also be performed in these locations:

Cities:		Austin
Counties:		Bastrop Caldwell Comal Hays Travis Williamson


Web Site: http://www.housing-rights.org

Last updated on May 7, 2009

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