In this competitive housing market, some buyers are submitting letters with their purchase offer telling the seller why they love the house so much, and why they think the seller would want them to be the new owners. Sometimes the buyers include a photo of themselves or their family, and may say something like, “Your house is close to the school my disabled son attends” or “Here’s a photo of us taken last Christmas” or “I’m a single mom”.
I
was in a class this morning and learned that these “Love Letters” violate the
Fair Housing Act if they indicate the buyer’s race, color, religion, sex,
national origin, familial status or disability, all of which are protected
classes under the Fair Housing Act.
Sellers and landlords can not discriminate against members of those protected classes, and
most property owners will not. If a buyer has disclosed in their “Love Letter” that they
are a member of a protected class, and their offer is not accepted, they may
think it was because they disclosed their protected class status. They might
think about suing the seller for housing discrimination.
If
the buyer is going to write a “Love Letter” to the seller, they should only
talk about why they love the house, and not why the seller should personally
choose them as new owner.
The
class instructor said that as real estate brokers, we should explain to our
sellers the liability they may assume if they allow buyers to submit “Love
Letters”. We should get a written statement from our sellers that they will not
accept “Love Letters” and we should put in our listings that per the sellers’
instructions, offers accompanied by personal letters from the buyer will not be
considered.
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