Disabled Homeowners

Anita,

My knowledge of such communities is very limited. I recall a few years ago that a 40-year-old disabled man lived in a 55+ condo with his mother in or near Sun City. When the mother died, the neighbors tried to oust the disabled son due to his age. I do not know what the outcome was.

You should also note that the ADA does not apply to condos and HOA's as these are not places of public accommodation.

You need to provide more info:

1) is the a person trying to purchase a unit?
2) is this a current resident where the "over 55" resident has departed (death, divorce)?

In the case of 1), your deed restrictions on age apply and you can deny this sale.

In the case of 2), you can allow this person to remain a resident under the provisions of the Fair Housing Law and your "over 55" restriction for the community as a whole would still be upheld - just be sure that at least 80% of the units are in compliance.

Jim

You are correct Bruce - mine is the same. However a Board can choose to ignore this requirement (at its peril) and still be OK with maintaining its age restricted status with big brother as long as it meets the 80% and a ton of other stuff to prove that it is working to maintain this status.

Jim

Which won't work.

What makes you believe it will? (Please cite specific references so the rest of us can check them out.)

Our municipality here in Ct also requires that each unit be occupied by at least one person 55 or older. However it does allow for a spouse who survives a
resident 55 years of age or older to remain in the house provided that any such spouse who remarried or cohabitates must meet the age requirement. It also provides for the spouse of a qualified (over 55) resident to remain in the house if the over 55 resident becomes a resident of a long term continuing care facility. Since a child 21 years or older may reside with a qualified parent I assume they would also be allowed to stay if the qualified resident is deceased or enters a continuing care facility. I hope we're never faced with it. I can't imagine ever trying to put someone out of their home under those circumstances.

The point is a Disabled survivor would not be treated any differently.

Anita,

I think Glen is correct about the internet lawyering. It would be best to get a real attorney's opinion based on your association's status rather than be cowed by a threat of a lawsuit.

Some time ago I did read one of HUD's statements about senior-only living and, from what I recall, there are tons of options available when applying for age-restricted status. Your best point to begin from would be to find the original application and any amendments or addendums for your association. As someone pointed out above, one size does not fit all and your documentation may or may not allow a younger person to reside in your community.

One thing is correct: If your associations objects to the proposed purchase, you could be sued. But if you don't object, you could be sued. If the sale never happens, you could be sued. My point is that baseless lawsuits are filed everyday in every court. For every one that is filed, there are about a gazillion threats of lawsuits. Never be intimidated by the threat of a lawsuit that likely will never be filed and has about a 90% chance of being dismissed before ever going to trial.

Interesting point. HUD does require that associations "make reasonable accommodations" for disabled persons. But, does that mean that associations must make accommodations that contradict other HUD requirements?

As I remember it, "reasonable accommodations" for disabled persons applies to current residents/owners. I question whether or not the reasonable accommodations requirement can be made to apply to prospective owners or residents.

I would hope the board would handle this with a little more compassion (perhaps give relatives a year or so to get the disabled person moved to another place or perhaps bring in the local department of aging or disability services to assist..) That said, as crass as this may sound, if this is a 55+ community that has to abide by HUD rules, then that's what it has to do.

That's why people in similar situations need to make plans. This happened in my family - one of my cousins is intellectually disabled and lived all of his life with another relative. One of her daughters had promised to look after him if something happened to her, but unfortunately by the time her mother died of cancer, circumstances had changed and she couldn't do it. The deceased cousin's husband was also having his own health issues and couldn't care for my cousin and he ended up in a nursing home (fortunately, it's a pretty decent one and everyone works to keep tabs on him).

As the country ages, there are many disabled people who've lived with their parents all their lives and now the parents have health problems that may put them in an assisted living or nursing home facility - suddenly the question becomes what will happen to the child, especially if he/she doesn't qualify to live there.