Author
   Jeannie Haubert Weil (Winthrop University)

This analysis builds upon prior audit study research that argues that housing discrimination can occur even in preliminary phone interactions before rental agents and home seekers ever meet. To test the hypothesis that rental agents discriminate based on verbal cues such as accents, ethnically identifiable names, and English fluency, this audit study of the Mississippi Gulf Coast from 2004-2006 compares housing agent treatment of Anglos and Latinos both before and after hurricane Katrina devastated the housing supply in August 2005. The study involves speakers of what socio-linguists call “White Standard English” (WSE), “Latino-Accented English” representing fluent yet notably accented English (LAE), and Latinos with “limited English proficiency” (LEP). The analysis reveals that which housing market disparities are most salient depends on changes in housing market suggesting that individual acts of housing discrimination are situated in a larger social and economic context. Thus, the likelihood of a Latino caller encountering a particular type of discrimination depends not only on ethno-linguistic style, but also on housing market conditions. Additionally, the findings largely contradict theoretical expectations and suggest that researchers should reevaluate the utility of audit methods, the predominant methodology in housing discrimination research, for uncovering discrimination in tight housing markets.