Testing has been part of ICRC's efforts to eliminate unlawful discrimination in Iowa for over 20 years. Testing is a tool the agency uses to discover whether persons are being treated differently because of a protected personal characteristic such as race, sex, disability or familial status. Analogous to the "mystery shopping" technique that many businesses use, testing is a way to check on how applicants and customers are being treated. When used by a civil rights agency, it also checks on compliance with the law.
Testing helps determine the nature and extent of unlawful discrimination. Testing also serves to educate the public about civil rights law and encourages voluntary lawful behavior. Testing results are used by ICRC in allocating resources and can be used by communities as benchmarks for planning and attaining greater education and compliance.
One of the earliest ICRC testing projects involved testing landlords, property managers and Realtors in Council Bluffs. On-site race tests were conducted on rental and sales property throughout the city in 1978. During this project, 9 real estate firms, 8 landlords and 1 rental referral service were tested. Possible violations of fair housing laws were found in all but one of the tests.
The size and scope of the ICRC's testing program has grown since its beginning in the 1970's. The ICRC has devoted resources to large scale testing projects in each of the past three years. In 1995/1996 the ICRC conducted housing tests of rental properties in 51 mid-sized communities throughout Iowa. In this project, funded by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the ICRC conducted on-site race tests, familial status phone tests, and disability phone tests. These tests were designed to determine if individuals were being treated differently because of their race, because they had children in their households, or because a household member had a disability.
From February 1995 to April 1996, the ICRC conducted 909 tests (402 familial status, 262 disability, and 245 race) and found 136 possible violations of fair housing laws, and filed 41 commissioner complaints.
In 1996/1997 the Iowa Civil Rights Commission conducted on-site race and national origin tests of mortgage lenders in the eight largest cities in Iowa. Pre-application tests were conducted of lenders in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Iowa City, Sioux City, and Waterloo/Cedar Falls. A total of 122 tests were conducted with 33 tests showing possible violations of fair lending laws.
The 1997/1998 Community Testing Project is ICRC's most recent testing effort.