According to the Department of Justice, a Milwaukee real estate agent and a seller conspired to prevent an African-American from buying the seller's home. Along with the agent's broker, they got slapped with a not-stiff-enough $35,000 fine, but I wish somebody would also slap these two dinosaurs upside the head.

We wouldn't want to foster any stereotypes, but somebody should tell real estate agent Phyllis Hasenstab and homeowner Edith Halvorsen that Hitler lost the war.

In 2005, real estate agent Margaret Silkey was helping Tammi Doss, an African-American, look for a home. The DOJ alleges that Silkey told Halvorsen she might have a buyer for her house. Halvoren allegedly asked if the client were black and told Silkey she did not want to sell her home to a black person.

Halvorsen allegedly then hired Hasenstab to list the home for sale and also told her that she didn't want a black person buying the home. When Silkey tried to schedule an appointment to show Halvorsen's house once again to Doss, Hasenstab and Halvorsen allegedly amended the listing agreement to exclude Silkey from showing the property. The home was sold to a white person.

The story is all the more sickening because Doss happens to be a public servant -- a school principal in the Milwaukee school system. She must think she's in a horrifying Jim Crow time warp, not the 21st century.

I hope Halvorsen's financial loss will teach her a lesson, but Hasenstab should be even more accountable.

As a 20-year veteran, a CRS and a GRI, Hasenstab should certainly know better. Fair housing laws have been in place since 1968 and prohibit discimination in the sale, rental and financing of dwellings based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, famillial status, and handicap. Fair housing laws are Real Estate 101, so there's simply no excuse for her alleged behavior.

But she couldn't have gotten as far as she did without the omission or negligence of authorities who could have stopped this case before it began, namely both brokers, the MLS, the association, and the state association.

Why didn't Silkey's broker get Hasenstab's broker on the phone and give him/her hell?

How is it possible to modify a contract to exclude a member of the same MLS from showing the house? Under what pretense?

And now that Hasenstab's settled with the DOJ, will other action be taken by her board to prevent her from doing anything like this again?

I don't know what it takes for an agent's license to be suspended or lost, but the sheer ugliness of this case should certainly be a good reason.

Published: March 3, 2008

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.