The American Apartment Owners Association published an interesting article in its newsletter last Friday titled "Advertising and Fair Housing – Forget About Freedom of Speech" written by Charles Brown, a certified real estate attorney in Austin, Texas. Mr. Brown's warnings and guidance are very well placed and deserve attention by all multifamily owners and managers.
The examples addressed in the article are further evidence of the tendency, no, the policy of the enforcers of the Fair Housing Act to see only one side of discrimination. In assuming that all landlords have a desire to discriminate among potential residents to maximize profits, these misguided bureaucrats and self-appointed discrimination police fail to see the natural aspects of discrimination, which we used to call "choice" or "selection."
Whether one believes in creationism, Darwinism or any other "ism", it is the natural desire of different cultures to live and associate with like minded, looking and acting people. If this were not so, the world would be populated by one race, one religion, one government and so on. Granted, there are whole movements dedicated to that outcome, but even if it arrives one day, we still must deal with the world as it currently exists.
With the natural human inclinations to associate with one's own kind solidly in place, what have the enforcers tried to enforce in eliminating any permissible references to the cultural preferences of the majority of residents in a multifamily property? They have accomplished one thing . . . denying those folks looking for a good home for their families the most critical lifestyle information. Instead of making it very clear who really lives on the property being advertised, the enforcers put the burden on the potential renters to figure that out.
No one really believes that the racial or cultural profile of every apartment complex tracks the national demographic percentiles. Apartment owners should be free to characterize their properties in any truthful manner in their advertising. Their future residents will sure appreciate it!