Realtor sues real estate board over investigation into Bible verses on webpageA Christian realtor is suing the Virginia Real Estate Board, saying she felt compelled to resign after being investigated for a fair housing complaint related to sharing her religious beliefs on a business website and email signatures.
In the state lawsuit filed in Richmond, Hadassah Hubbard Carter is claiming that her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated by the VREB, which filed a Fair Housing Act complaint against her in August 2017.
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The lawsuit claims that the VREB’s complaint from 2017 accused her of violating a Virginia Fair Housing Law provision regulating unlawful speech.
In the initial complaint, VREB cited Carter’s email signature line, which read: “For Faith and Freedom, Jesus loves you and with God all things are possible.â€
Additionally, Carter was cited for the fact that the personal statement on her webpage quoted the New Testament verse John 3:16, which reads: "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.â€
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The VREB complaint contested that Carter had used "words or statements associated with Christianity, indicating a preference or limitation based on religion, in violation of the Virginia Fair Housing Law."
According to the lawsuit, Carter and her lawyer sought to resolve the issue through communication with VREB. However, VREB allegedly refused to permit Carter to “make any religious statements on her business website" or "her email signature.â€
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Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that the investigation never found any acts of discrimination committed by Carter since she served clients from various religious backgrounds.
Yet another bureaucratic board bypassing due process. It decided, despite contrary evidence, that Carter could not but discriminate against non-Christians. Glad to see someone pushing back to try to give these bigoted bureaucrats a stout rap on their snout.
