Home for sale with one stipulation: ‘No Trump supporters’ wanted as buyers
3 hours
A California woman is selling her home, but she has one stipulation for all potential buyers: ‘No Trump supporters.’
The home’s seller, who said the home has been in her family for decades, told her realtor she has a political preference when it comes to the future owners of her Sacramento home, KOVR-TV reported.
“I told her [the realtor] that I didn’t want her to sell it to a Trump supporter,” said the home seller, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.
Is that even legal?
According to the Fair Housing Act, it’s illegal to refuse to sell or rent property to someone based on “race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin.”
Political affiliation doesn’t fall into any of those categories.
But Allen Sawyer, an attorney, told KOVR that while the woman’s terms may not be illegal, it does infringe on other homebuyer’s rights.
“That’s an unlawful contractual term that infringes the freedom of association and first amendment rights,” Sawyer told KOVR. “People have a right to believe what they want to believe and they shouldn’t be restricted from purchasing property based on that.”
Realtor Elizabeth Weintraub said the “No Trump supporter” request was a first for her, adding that there’s nothing preventing a seller from discussing the topic.
“We can ask somebody how they voted, but they don’t have to tell us,” Weintraub said.
Ryan Lundquist, an area home appraiser, warned that seller could be limiting her pool of potential buyers since “39 percent of voters voted for Donald Trump in the Sacramento region. That’s an absolute fact.”
But that doesn’t appear to matter to the seller.
“When you’re talking about [principles], morals, and ethics, it’s very very deep,” she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for commenting. Your comments are needed for helping to improve the discussion.