Descrimintion in owner occupied 3 unit building NY

Descrimintion in owner occupied 3 unit building NY by stephen on June 21, 2012 @13:08

Someone told me today that if you own and live in the building then you are exempt from the fair housing act providing the building is 3 units or less.

Is this true? What are the limitations? They said that you could go as far as to write an add in the paper that flat out said something like "only white people apply" or "no one with children apply"

Sounds crazy to me but I did see "exempt" often when I tried to look it up. Im just curious to know how far that really goes.

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Re: Descrimintion in owner occupied 3 unit building NY by Anonymous on June 21, 2012 @13:17	[ Reply ]

If you rent out housing, you cannot discriminate. Period.

Re: Descrimintion in owner occupied 3 unit building NY by stephen on June 21, 2012 @13:32	[ Reply ]

I was able to find something refered to as "the mrs. murphy" exemption to the FHA after a little more research and from what I found it looks like you can in fact descrimiate in that situation, but you cannot do as my friend had said and run a descrimanatory add in the paper. And the exemption does not extend to race. Does anyone know further or if I'm just misreading?

Re: Descrimintion in owner occupied 3 unit building NY by Micah on June 21, 2012 @13:53	[ Reply ]

You should never print an ad like that, if for no other reason than someone will vandalize your property. That exemption, from what I have heard, is to make it so small property owners do not have to conform to every single code and rule that big properties have to. Like handicap access and things like that which would require a lot of money to update to code. If you don't want to rent to families, then 1 br apts are the way to go. 3 br units tend to attract people with kids or roommate situations.

Re: Descrimintion in owner occupied 3 unit building NY by NY-LL on June 21, 2012 @15:40	[ Reply ]

The Civil Rights Act would like apply to the same issues the Fair Housing Act does not apply to or specifically cover. The Fair Housing Act is an extension of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. (Not certain what is intended by the post, but it seems like a challenge of the civil rights laws in the U.S.) CraigsList "It is illegal to discriminate in the sale, rental or leasing of housing because of a person's race, color, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, or religion. In New York City and in other municipalities in the state, it is also illegal to discriminate against people based on their source of income, including receipt of Section 8 or other public benefits. It is furthermore also illegal to place housing advertisements containing discriminatory language on craigslist or any other site. Law enforcement officials survey craigslist for discriminatory advertisements and violators are subject to civil penalties (up to $10,000 per violation) and revocation of real estate license." http://newyork.craigslist.org/i/apartments

Re: Descrimintion in owner occupied 3 unit building NY by MrDan (Georgia) on June 21, 2012 @17:04	[ Reply ]

Posted on June 8, 2010 by Scott M. Badami The "Mrs. Murphy" Exemption to the Fair Housing Act The owners and management companies of the apartment communities I represent are almost always covered by the Fair Housing Act (FHA). In practice, the FHA and its implementing regulations are part of the guidebook concerning how we do business. The FHA does, however, contain a few exceptions -- one of the exemptions is referred to as the "Mrs. Murphy" exception. "Mrs. Murphy's" Exemption provides that if a dwelling has four or fewer rental units and the owner lives in one of those units, that home is exempt from the FHA. "Mrs. Murphy" is the hypothetical elderly widow who has converted a portion of her home into a rental apartment to supplement her limited income. To be sure, the exemption does not apply to rental advertising. That means Mrs. Murphy cannot run a discriminatory advertisement indicating, for example, that a certain religious group is not welcome to rent her apartment or room. Also, this exemption does not apply when a real estate agent is representing the property owner as the law presumes agents are professionally trained and aware that housing discrimination is against the law. Also, HUD takes the position that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (yes, 1866) makes it illegal to discriminate based on race -- and as such, there is not exemption from the law when dealing with race. Should the "Mrs. Murphy's" of the world discriminate? Of course not. But, the FHA does not apply in this limited circumstance and it can be a defense to a housing discrimination action. You should be aware that many States, Counties, Cities and Towns have their own Fair Housing laws also.

Re: Descrimintion in owner occupied 3 unit building NY