Many communities in Florida have complied with the legal requirements of both the Florida Fair Housing Act and the Federal Fair Housing Act so that their communities may be considered housing for older persons which are exempt from the prohibition against familial status discrimination. After a community has qualified as housing for older persons under the Acts, a community must implement policies and procedures to demonstrate that it intends to remain a community of housing for older persons and must also perform a periodic census of the community to verify that the community remains qualified and exempt. The law requires that a community must perform a census of its community to verify that at least eighty percent (80%) of its units are occupied by at least one person fifty-five (55) years of age of older in order to maintain the community's exemption.

When conducting a census, the Association may verify the age of the residents by looking at their driver licenses, birth certificates, passports, immigration cards, military identification or any state, local, national or international official documents that contain a birth date of comparable reliability. The Association may also use a certification in a lease, application, affidavit of other document signed by any member of the household who is eighteen (18) years of age or older that asserts that at least one person in the unit is at least fifty-five (55) years of age or older. Your association's attorney may provide you with a form that includes the various options to verify age to make your project easier.

In rare instances where an occupant of a particular unit refuses to comply with the association's age verification procedures, the association may consider the unit occupied by at least one person at least fifty-five (55) years of age or older if the association obtains sufficient evidence of that fact. The law allows such evidence to include government records or documents, prior forms or applications or a statement from an individual who has personal knowledge of the age of the occupants. The individual making that statement must set forth the basis of this knowledge and the document must indicate that it has been signed under the penalty of perjury. Your association attorney may assist you with the preparation of a document that satisfies the legal requirements of the statute if the occupants are not cooperative.

It is important that an association conduct the required census at least once every two years so that the community may maintain its exempt status as one for housing for older persons. A failure to comply with the requirements of the law may cause the association to jeopardize its status. Communities who do not meet the requirements to maintain the exemption as a community for older persons may be exposed to significant liability for penalties provided by the statute.

For those of you who use Backer Law Firm, P.A. as your registered agent, please be sure that our current address (400 S. Dixie Highway, Ste 420) is indicated on your Annual Report before it is filed with the Secretary of State. A failure to make this change can have serious consequences if the Association is ever sued.