Romani tenants finally get housing through Czech nonprofit "real estate agent" Fair Housing

Mária Pompová was living with her boyfriend and young daughter in a substandard apartment in the Czech Republic where the rent was high even though the heating didn't work and there was only cold running water. They decided to move but could not manage to find a landlord to take them.

"They were bothered by the fact that we have children and that in addition, we are Romani," she says in a video that has been published online by the Czech Government's "Hate Free Culture" initiative. The family did not find new housing until they contacted the nonprofit real estate company Fair Housing (Férové bydlení), which is run by the R-Mosty NGO.

"We are doing our best to find members of marginalized groups appropriate accommodation and we aid them with maintaining the rental relationship over the long run," says manager Adam Pospíšil. Collaboration with the "real estate agent" has also been praised by the landlord who ultimately leased an apartment to the Romani couple.

"It's always a risk to rent an apartment and here you have the advantage of some service, legal and personal," said landlord Veronika Jírů. The "real estate agent" has already aided 12 families with finding housing and other landlords interested in collaboration are joining the service.