Quote:
Originally Posted by OpusX1
A Landlord may not discriminate for any reason because of age, race, familia status, religion, handicap, or sex.
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Yes, that is a quote from the Federal Fair Housing Act. However, federally qualified age-restricted/adult/senior/55+ ... whatever you want to call them communities are exempt from the age and familial status discrimination portion of the Fair Housing Act via the Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA).
HOPA does not require The Villages or any other HOPA-qualified community to sell or rent to anyone under the age of 55. Qualified communities can require every single resident in every home to be 55+ if they want to. They can require every resident in every home to be 60+ if they want to. The only requirement (with regard to this discussion) is that a minimum of 80% of the homes within the community be occupied by at least one person 55 or older. What is required of the other residents in each home or with the other 20% of the homes is a “policy” decision made by the owner/developer/HOA ... whomever is in charge of writing policies for that community.
The last community I lived in required 100% of the homes be occupied by one person who was at least 55, including homes that were rented out.
I haven’t yet found sources that specifically address what we are talking about here (an individual homeowner’s rights/requirements) when it comes to renting out their home in a community such as TV, which (currently) allows residents under 55. I may be wrong, but based on my own research and personal experience, I believe that a homeowner in The Villages can require their renters to be of a certain age...as long as that is their policy for everyone and isn’t used as a means to discriminate for other reasons.