I just got a QC on one of my BPO's because my language wasn't appropriate according to their new guidelines and the "Fairness in Lending Act" or some such...

No, I didn't say "This dump is on the wrong side of the tracks and only a ______ would live in it."

The offending phrase was, get this... "shows pride of ownership." I changed it to "obviously well cared for." and everyone is happy.

Just a heads up. We wanna keep everything PC you know.

Bad phrase to use. "Well maintained" is supposed to the proper language. It has been working well so far.

I had one like that as well. I said "desirable school system." And it is. It's like one of the best overall rated in, if not the state, then at least around here. I started cracking up laughing when the rep called, because I've had other instances when reps call and say, uh, how're the schools in a particulare area.

I received guidelines from a few companies about pc phrases, and one mentioned that "pride of ownership" violates the fair housing act. I still cannot figure out how, but I tend to use "well-maintained" or "deferred maintenance noted" anyway. I personally am getting sick of all the worry about offending someone- if they let their home fall apart around them, have trash strewn about the yard, and junk cars with weeds growing up through the hoods, that has nothing to do with race, religion, etc, it has to do with them not putting forth the effort to take better care of their property. How does commenting on that violate laws designed to stop discrimination? especially when I have no idea (most of the time) who the owners are, what color their skin is or which god they pray to...
i wish someone could explain it to me, in a form I can understand, since I'm Polish (oops, shouldn't reveal that, should I?)....

If they only knew how we talk to each other... oh the horror.

I remember an exchange not too long ago between my broker and a local colleague.

Any new listings? (back when they were rare)
Yeah, I got one but it's a piece of crap.
That's okay, I've got a buyer for pieces of crap

And so the deal was done.

LOL!!
Got to get hip guys and speak politically correct. Is that ok with you. :-)

The prejudice against people who may inadvertently say something prejudice is daunting. I recommend each individual in Society take an annual anger management class starting at the age of two until they get over their issues.

I had a QC issue about a month ago, because I said the property was located in a rural area with no services, a small cluster of houses and one church. I was trying to distinguish that comp frome another one that was located in a similar cluster of houses that had no public buildings.

The word "church" was the offensive word. When I called them for clarification, they had to ask three people before they figured out what I could say. "Place of worship" won the PC game. Church, it seems, can be interpreted as generally a Christian term and excludes some groups such as Muslims.

LizL

But if it is a church, shouldn't it be called that? If a house is located next to a major hog farm, can you say hog farm, or would you have to say "live pork containment facility" so it doesn't offend Jews or vegans? No mattre what you call something, it doesn't change what it is, so why do we have to worry so much? I have used the word "churches" in several reports. Should I stop using the term "near employment opportunities" for fear of offending the deadbeat welfare cases? Hell, I support 'em, I am not gonna worry about offending them! (sorry, sore issue with me...)

Believe it or not, one of the companies I do BPO's for has a place on their form to rate the "neighborhood pride of ownership". LOL I don't use the phrase anywhere else but this one actually asks for it. To me, it makes sense. I have no clue who this would personally offend. I can' think of any culture that promotes NOT taking care of your home. How about the fact that their "poorly maintained" home Offends ME? LOL

I did, finally, sort of understand the objection to "church." The PC wordsmith explained that some religious beliefs can also be a reflection of race. Indicating that a settlement has only one "church" could be interpreted as an effort to steer away those races.

Great point Zephyr... there's a quote I love from none other than Abe Lincoln. He put a question to his cabinet: "How many legs would a horse have if we call the tail a leg?" (Some sucker fell for it and says "5")

"No, 4, because a horses tail is a horses tail, no matter what the government calls it."

omg zephyr you made me laugh, thank you haven't peed in my pants like that for some time. you made my morning!

Keep in mind this is not a defense of what you are talking about, just an explanation from some training thing I took. I feel as you do.

These regs are designed for BPOs on loans going into the secondary market. If a loan does not get resold the file gets looked at and someone could argue in a court of law that subjective phrases used in a BPO caused someone to make a negative decision on the file; decisions based on these types of phrases could be linked to violations of the fair housing acts. In a way it is protecting the BPO agent too. The rules of the game are what they are.

Not happy about it, just 'splaining it.

This is an example of claims of discriminatory and fair housing wording gone amuck. The description “Pride of ownership” has been used for years to describe the general condition of the neighborhood as in, homes in the neighborhood show little pride of ownership. The politically correct people claim that homes in rundown neighborhoods are commonly populated by a high percentage of minorities. Therefore, they claim, that describing such neighborhoods as lacking in pride of ownership indicates that minorities have no pride of ownership and therefore, the statement is discriminatory.

HomEq bpo people used to make you change the wording if they caught you using the term to something like, “homes in the neighborhood show a low level of maintenance.” What’s the difference? It’s all the same. I get bpo forms from Clear Capital that have “Pride of Ownership” printed right on the form and you have to check a box, yes or no so not everyone has bought into silliness.