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France to Mandate Anti-Discrimination Training for All Real Estate Agents After SOS Racisme Probe

The equality minister plans a decree requiring all agents to take anti-discrimination training in response to SOS Racisme's findings.

Overview

  • SOS Racisme’s 2025 phone testing of 198 agencies found 96 (48.48%) accepted or facilitated owners’ requests to select only “European-type” tenants, while 102 refused.
  • The association’s callers posed as landlords seeking to avoid supposed “neighbourhood problems,” with Le Parisien publishing the report and audio excerpts reviewed by AFP.
  • Aurore Bergé said the decree will be signed in the coming weeks with Housing Minister Vincent Jeanbrun, expanding training beyond current rules that mainly cover professional cardholders.
  • SOS Racisme’s Dominique Sopo called for a general mobilisation, stronger criminal or administrative penalties, and high-level public condemnation, noting discrimination levels unchanged since 2019.
  • FNAIM backed both training and sanctions, while some commentary questioned the testing’s representativeness and argued policy should also address landlords’ responsibilities.