Fair Housing Rule of Thumb:
When Listing and Advertising Real Estate – Describe the property not people!
Fair Housing Offices
Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity: 561-355-4844
Martin County Office of Equal Opportunity: (Scroll to bottom for Fair Housing documents)
St. Lucie County Office of Equal Opportunity:
Protected Classes
Protected classes under these Fair Housing Laws and Rules include Race, Color, Religion, National Origin, Sex, Familial Status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians; pregnant women and people securing custody of children -under 18), and Handicap (Disability). Additionally,under Palm Beach County’s Code, discrimination is prohibited because of: Sexual Orientation, Age, Marital Status, Gender identity and expression.
Fair Housing Violations
Regional MLS is dedicated to ensuring compliance with the Federal, State and Local Fair Housing Law. Subscribers, in accordance with our Rules and Regulations, will be fined for any violation of these laws since RMLS may be responsible for such violation in addition to the Broker, Owner and the real estate agent involved. In an effort to maintain compliance, RMLS will check for any new listings or changed listings utilizing words within the listing that may create an appearance of Fair Housing law violations. Violations of Fair Housing will incur an automatic fine of $100 per listing and removal of the remarks in question. This monitoring is also done to help prevent potentially hefty State and Federal fines for violating fair housing rules.
Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA)
Federal Register 24 CFT Part 100; 760.24-760.37 (4a) – Fla. Statute
Requirements for a community to be considered “housing for older persons”:
A. The housing is specifically designed and operated to assist elderly persons and is intended for, and solely occupied by, persons 62 years of age or older.
B. The housing is intended and operated for occupancy by persons 55 years of age or older and meets the following requirements:
- At least 80% of the occupied units are occupied by at least one person 55 years of age or older.
- The facility or community publishes and adheres to policies and procedures that demonstrate its intent to in fact be a provider of housing for older persons
- The facility or community complies with rules established by HUD for verification of occupancy
Note: The facility or community has to choose only A or B above, not both.
55+ Communities
The largest Fair Housing compliance issue deals with the status of a community as 55+. Be sure to check with the sellers and verify with the HOA regarding the legal status of the community. All communities that are 55+ must be registered with the state. The Florida Department of Human Relations verifies that they have met the criteria set out in the law and places their community name in a registry. The following link provides access to the registry – FCHR 55+ Housing Directory . Remember that both Rental and Residential listings in 55+ communities should be properly indentified in the restrictions section of the listing profile.
