Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: New Member criteria

[Elizabeth Magill (pastorlizm]

So the fair housing act applies to the sale (or rental) of homes by an
entity that owns 3 or more homes. So individual home owners can
discriminate between buyers in any way that they choose. (Although
realtors cannot.)

However the fair housing act applies any *advertising* of homes. It
requires the fair housing logo and does not allow language that
implies discrimination.

25 years ago, when I was involved in real estate advertising, entities
that were failing to follow the law were required to show
improvement--sellers by showing they were advertising in sources that
reached previously underserved populations (black papers primarily in
the DC/Baltimore area) and --newspapers (remember them?) by developing
strategies to enforce the law on people who wanted ads. But others
were not *required* to do such promotions, they simply had to have the
fair housing logo in their ads and not include discriminatory
language.

So I believe (I am not a lawyer) that cohousing communities could
intentionally advertise in family centered locations, websites, news
sources, etc.
And for resales individual homeowners could choose to prioritize
families with children over those without children (assuming the
homeowner owns only 1 or 2 properties).
Perhaps it is legal to list playgrounds and children's rooms--it
certainly is unlikely to be enforced by HUD.

With regard to family status, the concern at the time of the law being
developed is that families with children were being discriminated
against in housing. This discrimination continues; it is done by towns
approving mostly 1 and 2 BR homes and apartments, and by limiting the
number of people that can be in each bedroom. (They are "protecting"
schools.)

The other place it continues is in senior housing communities; the
housing act of 1959 pretty much created the idea of senior housing by
allowing communities with age restricted membership (and "services and
facilities" to serve older adults) to discriminate against families
with children.

The protections against discrimination against families with children
and people with disabilities was added to the fair housing act in
1988.

-Liz
(The Rev. Dr.) Elizabeth Mae Magill
Pastor, Ashburnham Community Church
Minister to the Affiliates, Ecclesia Ministries
www.elizabethmaemagill.com
508-450-0431

On Mon, Apr 10, 2023 at 10:49 AM Martha via Cohousing-L
<cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>
>
> Yes though the "familial status" protection doesn't mean what you probably 
> think it means. "In fair housing law, “familial status” has a specific and 
> limited meaning: the presence of children under the age of 18 in a 
> household," as one legal website very neatly puts it. Here's HUD: 
> https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/discrimination_against_families_children
>     On Saturday, April 8, 2023 at 07:39:45 AM PDT, Lisa Kuntz <lisa.kuntz 
> [at] daybreakcohousing.org> wrote:
>
>  As far as I know, any cohousing seller must abide by the Fair Housing Act
> guidelines:
>
> At the federal level, the Act protects seven classes of people. That is
> familial status, color, national origin, disability, race, religion, and
> sex.
>
> In addition to these classes, various states also have their own set of
> additional protected classes. They include marital status, student status,
> military status, age, source of income, sexual orientation, and creed.
>
> That means that we can't state things like *Families preferred, or even We
> love kids!, *for example.  That is considered to be discrimination. Even
> words like *Mature individuals welcome, Walkable neighborhood *(it might be
> walkable only for able-bodied people).
>
> The basic guideline is that sellers provide information and let sellers
> make their own decision based upon those facts. At Daybreak, we talk about
> the reality that teams are the heart of our self-managed community and that
> the social and physical fabric of our community is maintained by
> participation. We give tours of the community, ask people to study our
> website, and give potential buyers a chance to meet with  current
> residents.  Curious buyers who ask lots of questions are the happiest
> buyers!  We encourage questions and provide information so that they can
> self-select.
>
> Feedback appreciated!
>
> Lisa Kuntz
> Daybreak Cohousing
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, Apr 8, 2023 at 4:48 AM Jana Lussier <janarlussier [at] gmail.com> 
> wrote:
>
> > Hi All,
> >
> > Jana from Cherry Hill Cohousing in Amherst, MA here
> >
> > I am wondering if any of the cohousing communities have criteria that they
> > put forward when houses come up for sale?
> >
> > For example certain demographics like families, certain age for buyers,
> > financial diversity?
> >
> > Love to hear from other communities
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Jana
> > _________________________________________________________________
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