Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing vs "traditional" self-managed community

[Mac Thomson (macthomson]

There’s been a lot of concern over the years with cohousing marketing running 
afoul of fair housing laws.

I’m curious, have there ever been any cohousing communities that have actually 
been sanctioned for violations of fair housing laws?


-- 
Mac Thomson

Heartwood Cohousing
Southwest Colorado
http://www.heartwoodcohousing.com


"It isn't enough to talk about peace.  One must believe in it.  One must work 
at it."
        - Eleanor Roosevelt
**********************************************************





> On Jun 5, 2025, at 3:03 PM, Lisa Kuntz via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] 
> cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> Thanks for your reply, Linda.
> 
> It reflects our concerns about moving away from "full disclosure" due to FH
> concerns.
> 
> FH seems to want you to share less, but that seems "unkind" to me, in the
> sense that potential members could end up buying into community that is not
> what they expected, or missing the opportunity to live in a community that
> would be a welcoming "sanctuary."
> 
> 
> On Thu, Jun 5, 2025 at 1:07 PM Linda Hobbet <coho [at] lindahobbet.com> wrote:
> 
>> We run into that problem at Village Hearth in Durham, NC. We are an
>> LGBTQIA+ and allies-oriented senior community. one of our core values is
>> to create a space where people are comfortable being themselves in
>> public. While cohousing communities in general are welcoming being in a
>> place where LGBTQ+ people are the majority feels different to our members.
>> 
>> We are concerned about that focus changing over time, simply due to
>> demographics, because we aren't allowed to say we prefer LGBTQ+ people
>> when marketing available units. Probably the most useful tool is our
>> website (currently under revision), which makes who we are very clear.
>> That and general promotion of the community without it being linked to
>> marketing a specific unit. Our orientation has attracted media coverage,
>> especially at the beginning. For example, we are going to be featured on
>> an upcoming CBS Eyes on America segment on the national evening news!
>> Nevertheless, our population can easily swing to mostly allies
>> (including myself) rather than actual members of the LGBTQ+ community,
>> simply because 55+ LGBTQ+ people are a much smaller demographic.  We are
>> currently about 50/50.
>> 
>> Linda Hobbet
>> 
>> On 6/4/2025 7:16 PM, Mariana Almeida via Cohousing-L wrote:
>>> Marketing a unit in cohousing is fraught in a fair housing context. You
>> want to know a lot about people, but the fair housing law essentially wants
>> you to know less (so you can discriminate less.)
>> 
>> --
>> VillageHearthCohousing.com
>> 706-202-7178
>> coho [at] lindahobbet.com
>> 
>> "When you plant a seed of love, it is you that blooms.”
>>                                                    Ma Jaya
>> 
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