Walking Fine Line of Faith in Advertising

When Keith Elliott decided he wanted to use a Christian slogan to advertise his real estate business, the first thing he did was call a lawyer.

He had been a real estate agent in Fairfax for 10 years, and he worried that using religion in his promotional materials might violate anti-discrimination laws. But Elliott had recently started going to church regularly, and he wanted his business to reflect his new sense of faith.

To get advice, he called in to "Jay Sekulow Live," a legal affairs show that airs on Christian radio stations nationwide. Sekulow told Elliott it would be safe to use the word "faithfully" in his slogan. It hinted about his beliefs but was broad enough not exclude non-Christians.

"Muslim people have a basis in faith, and Jewish people have a basis in faith," said Elliott, who last month left his own firm to join a GMAC Real Estate office in Sterling.

In recent years, an increasing number of real estate agents have begun using Christian messages to market their businesses -- either by incorporating religious symbols in their ads and Web sites or by joining Christian referral networks. But some worry whether these tactics could violate the law, even if unintentionally.

Christian marketing is nothing new, but in real estate the idea has gained traction only over the past decade. The nation's largest faith-based real estate association, the Christian Real Estate Network, formed in 2002, has grown to roughly 1,600 members. The Colorado-based organization refers customers to agents in their area whom it has screened to make sure they run a reliable business.

Christians certainly aren't alone in faith-based real estate marketing. In Michigan, a few agents have begun marketing themselves to the state's strictly observant Muslims, who need special financing to get around Islam's ban on interest. For Jews, there is Kosher Connection. Decorated with a dreidel as well as crossed American and Israeli flags, the Web site promises to connect users to Jewish real estate agents around the world.

Originally, the Christian Real Estate Network was open only to agents who belonged to a mainstream Christian denomination -- Jehovah's Witnesses, for instance, were not allowed to apply. But that changed in 2004. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said that because the network collected referral fees, it technically counted as a brokerage and was required to admit any qualified agents, even if they weren't Christian.

"We can't say if they're not a Christian, they can't be in," said Justin Smith, the network's president. "I don't know of many people who aren't Christians who would want to be a part of it. We don't try to dissuade non-Christians from becoming a part of it, but that's kind of the nature of it."

Several agents said they joined groups such as the Christian Real Estate Network because it allowed them to market themselves to a Christian audience without alienating other customers or exposing themselves to charges of discrimination. The Fair Housing Act bars real estate agents from using advertising that indicates a preference for customers based on race, religion, gender or disabilities. And few are willing to even risk crossing that line, partly because the law is very broad.

"The question is whether the ordinary reader would interpret the [advertisement] as discriminatory," said Mary Hahn, director of the Fair Housing Project at the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. "It doesn't have to be blatantly stated that you're discriminating."

Some brokers, though, are less hesitant. Philip DeLizio runs Maryland Christian Real Estate in Crofton. His Web site includes a section on his religious beliefs and displays a logo with a large dove. DeLizio said he gets roughly half his referrals from Christian sources, and that most of those customers are simply looking for a broker with whom they know they have something in common. It doesn't affect the way he does business, he said, but it makes some clients more comfortable.

"If you're targeting a certain market, you want to advertise yourself in a way that appeals to them," he said. "It's not unlike if you go for the over-55 crowd."

DeLizio said he has yet to receive a complaint about his advertising practices.

In the past, courts have avoided ruling specifically on whether real estate agents could use religious symbols in their promotional materials. The last major case from Virginia to directly address the question ended in 1989 when the judge essentially decided it on a technicality.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development issued guidelines in 1995 that said agents could use religious symbols only if they added a disclaimer saying they did not discriminate on the basis of faith.

Nonetheless, groups such as the Christian Real Estate Network, or brokers such as DeLizio, are walking a fine line, even if they use a disclaimer, said Connie Chamberlin, president of Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia, a nonprofit group dedicated to fighting housing discrimination.

"If this said black real estate network, or white real estate network -- looking for a white real estate agent to buy or sell a home? -- how would that sound?" Chamberlin said. She added that eventually the courts will weigh in. "Some day one of these things is going to be litigated all the way to the Supreme Court -- because there is so much of it."