LEGAL UPDATE
not limited to, the club room, the workout
room, the business center, the pool and the
spa. You will likely have to install, or have
available, a lift at the pool and spa to allow a
mobility-impaired person to access the pool
or spa.
TAA Lease Provision on STRs:
The current TAA Lease provides a
complete prohibition of any STR:
30.3 Rental Prohibited. You agree that you won‘t
rent, offer to rent or license all or any part of your
apartment to anyone else unless otherwise agreed to
by us in writing. You agree that you won‘t accept
anything of value from anyone else for the use of any
part of your apartment. You agree not to list any part
of your apartment on any lodging rental website or
with any person or service that advertises dwellings
for rent.
Consequently, you currently have the right
to either issue a Notice to Vacate for Non-
Delinquency Breach of Lease or a Lease
Violation when this provision is violated.
Developing an STR Policy:
You will likely need to develop a
comprehensive policy on STRs if you:
i.
Completely prohibit STRs;
ii.
Utilize or allow STRs; or
iii.
Simply “look the other way”
if STRs are occurring on the
property.
With items ii. and iii. above, be prepared to
address ADA concerns as there are multiple
disabled advocates that regularly “shop”
properties for ADA and Fair Housing Act
Design and Construction compliance and
file lawsuits when properties are out of
compliance.
The area of law around STRs will
continue to evolve and develop; keep
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November/December 2018 | www.saaaonline.org
informed by monitoring SAAA, TAA and
NAA advisories regarding this rapidly
changing area of the law.
FAIR HOUSING ACT HORIZON:
The Fair Housing Act continues to
evolve with the change in presidential
administrations and with new Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”)
Ben Carson. Notwithstanding the general
Trump administration theme of less
regulation of business in general, HUD has
been slow to change or revise the rules and
guidance that issued during the Obama
Administration under Secretary Julian
Castro. Fair Housing advocates, such as
non-profit Fair Housing Initiative Programs
like the Fair Housing Council of Greater San
Antonio and private attorneys continue to
file complaints under existing law,
regulations and guidance.
This article
discusses the issues that are on the horizon
in the realm of Fair Housing and which you
need to have on your radar screen.
Occupancy Standards:
Under the protected class of familial
status, the occupancy standards for the
number of adults and children per bedroom
has been fairly settled law since HUD re-
adopted the 1991 Keating Memorandum in
effective in 1999.
The Keating
Memorandum was issued by the general
counsel of HUD to instruct HUD
investigators regarding the considerations
when a complaint was filed regarding
discriminatory occupancy standards. The
Keating Memorandum requires that multiple
factors be taken into account when
considering the occupancy restrictions
imposed by a community regarding the
maximum number of persons per bedroom.
The Keating factors include size of unit, size
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