Several New York State Senate committees held a joint public hearing on Long Island Thursday to hear testimony from regional civil rights and housing groups on recent reports of racial discrimination by real estate agents.
A Newsday investigation found real estate brokers steered minority home buyers away from whiter communities.
State Senator Kevin Thomas, who co-chaired the hearing, says state agencies need to step up to vet brokers.
“The Department of State should have been doing what they should have been doing all along, which is the enforcement aspect of these real estate licenses.”
Thomas, chair of the Senate Committee on Consumer Protection, says unequal treatment of home buyers anywhere on Long Island is unacceptable.
