“Best Reality, Stars reality corporation s.r.o., DůmRealit.cz, Broker´s Team, CENTURY 21 Finem caught on tape rejecting Roma tenants in Czech Republic, only CENTURY 21 apologizes”, 17 July 2020

[A Czech man and his family]...always gets the same response [when looking for standard rental property]: We do not rent to Roma. [An] employee at the [local authority]…[also] told him there was no municipally-owned apartments available. [During his investigation], [r]eal estate…firms, [specifically]…Best Reality, Stars reality corporation s.r.o., DůmRealit.cz, Broker´s Team and CENTURY 21 Czech Republic, [were recorded as allowing]…their clients [to] expressly refuse Romani applicants.

[At] Stars reality corporation, [a broker said a property-owning client] “…doesn't want Romani people, she wants all of the people living there to be working”. [At] Broker´s Team…, [an] agent…[was recorded saying]…her client refuses to rent to Romani people. [At]…CENTURY 21 Finem, [an agent was]…recorded defending her rejection of…Romani applicant[s], saying...apartment owners are to blame. Romea.cz contacted all of [the above-mentioned] real estate firms [for comment]...

…CENTURY 21 Czech Republic [responded]: "Any form of discrimination is unacceptable…and is incompatible with the firm's values. Even if the owner of the apartment wanted to exclude a group of tenants on the basis of their ethnic origin…, we cannot…accede to that. We have…immediately initiated a review and disciplinary proceedings”.

The other real estate firms either refused [or failed] to communicate. [A] Best Reality broker…threatened to sue…[Romea.cz]. Vice-Mayor Vojtěch Pohl, who is in charge of [local authority] housing [said]: “Currently all…apartments owned by the town are occupied, and we have a waiting list. Unfortunately the town has no way to affect the behaviour of private real estate agencies or…owners”.

Adam Fialík, a representative of the Platform for Social Housing, [said]: “[F]or a Romani family, even arranging...a viewing of an apartment is [a]...difficult barrie[r] to overcome. The situation captured by those recordings is, unfortunately, the sad reality. The Antidiscrimination Act has been in effect in [Czechia] since 2009, but…it is not managing to prevent such situations”.