Final answer:
People who pose as home-seekers to find out if brokers are treating everyone equally are called testers. Testers play an important role in identifying and documenting discrimination in the housing market, and their findings can be used as evidence in legal cases or to advocate for changes in policies and practices to ensure fair housing opportunities for all.
Step-by-step explanation:
The people who pose as home-seekers to find out if brokers are treating everyone equally are called testers. Testers are individuals who act as potential homebuyers or renters to investigate whether there is housing discrimination happening based on factors such as race, ethnicity, or other protected characteristics.
Testers play an important role in identifying and documenting discrimination in the housing market. Their findings can be used as evidence in legal cases or to advocate for changes in policies and practices to ensure fair housing opportunities for all.
For example, in a 2012 study by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the nonprofit Urban Institute, testers found that Hispanic testers who contacted agents about advertised rental units received information about 12 percent fewer units available and were shown seven percent fewer units than White renters. These findings highlight the ongoing need for testers to uncover hidden forms of discrimination.