real-estate hoa utah fair-housing-acts
HOA Prohibits &quot;Large Families&quot;
<p>My wife and I have found a vacant lot (this is in Utah, BTW) where we would like to build a house. However, the HOA that the lot belongs to does not allow more than four occupants, regardless of the size of the home. The CCR actually says</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(community name) is designed and intended to be for a specific lifestyle. Neither the Units nor the common areas are designed to accommodate large families. Permanent residents of (community name) shall be restricted and limited to families with no more than four person's related by blood, marriage, or adoption.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Does the HOA actually have authority to enforce this? What happens if we build a house (with plenty of room), move in with our two kids, and then have another baby?</p>

<p>As stated, this is not a reasonable restriction and runs afoul of the <a href="https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/discrimination_against_families_children" rel="noreferrer">Fair Housing Act</a>. You cannot discriminate based on family status, with an exemption for &quot;<a href="https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/fair_housing_act_housing_older_persons" rel="noreferrer">housing for older persons</a>&quot;, and the act &quot;does not limit the applicability of reasonable local, state, or federal restrictions regarding the maximum number of occupants permitted to occupy a dwelling&quot; (let's leave aside HOA restrictions for a moment).</p>
<p>The number of occupants can legally be restricted in terms of a reasonable relation to a legitimate interest such as parking availability, safety, noise or securing the property. A restriction based on square footage or number of bedrooms might be reasonable: a blanket rule &quot;no more than 4 people&quot; is not reasonable. <a href="https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/living-together-book/chapter5-2.html" rel="noreferrer">This article</a> notes some of the state complication in interpreting &quot;marital status&quot;, in terms of &quot;not being married to each other&quot;.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What happens if we build a house (with plenty of room), move in with our two kids, and then have another baby?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You will start getting spurious violations like:</p>
<ul>
<li>Your grass was not cut Tuesday morning between 9am and 10am</li>
<li>Your garbage cans need to be hidden from the street</li>
<li>Your child hopped too many scotches on the sidewalk during a low-noise ordinance</li>
<li>Your car's exhaust is suddenly too loud</li>
<li>Your front window reflects too much light into the eyes of passersby between 2:05pm and 2:36pm</li>
<li>How dare you apply rainbow decorations on your child's playroom window during the off-season!</li>
<li>You left the Halloween decorations on your child's playroom window past October 31st 11:59:59pm</li>
<li>Your grass extends past your lawn by .025cm</li>
<li>You did not get your trees pruned by the yearly deadline</li>
<li>You did not pick up all of the leaves before the first snowfall</li>
<li>Should I keep going?</li>
</ul>
