The program Fair Housing for the Active Builder – one of the 35 education sessions offered at the Symposium – will show you how to market the right way without running afoul of the law. Learn what words to avoid, how to portray your customers in your advertising and marketing campaigns and much more.

The panel features marketing experts Rich Carlson of Carlson Communications in Northborough, Mass., and Kathy East of Creating Results, LLC, in Springfield, Va., and attorney/consultant Kathi Coughlin Williams of the Fair Housing Institute in Atlanta.

Carlson, East and Williams offered the following suggestions to builders:

• If you choose to age-restrict your community; avoid marketing to any other age group.  Marketing to younger buyers will only create confusion about what your community is all about. To remove any doubt, include an appropriate disclaimer in your ads, brochure, sales office, Web site, etc. 
  
  
• Whether you choose to age-restrict or not, your marketing communications (written, electronic and verbal) should not indicate a limitation on housing opportunity for people of any race, color, national origin, sex, religion, handicap or type of family. For instance, even if there currently is little diversity within your market area, incorporate images of minority groups in your print advertising campaigns (brochure, Web site or direct-mail campaign). You may need to broaden your marketing outreach efforts to a diverse set of publications. Finally, it is important to identify marketing language that will effectively market your community without creating Fair Housing problems. Develop consistent policies and language for all of your company’s sales, leasing and marketing activities.
   
  
• Engage an attorney who has experience with Fair Housing Act regulations, especially as they pertain to housing for persons over the age of 54. Ideally, work with an attorney who is not just familiar with the regulations, but has experience enforcing them. Your attorney can provide research on federal, state and local requirements, including land use limitations for age-restricted properties.
  

Finally, the panel suggests referring to the Fair Housing Pocket Guide: Understanding the Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA) Exemption, a brochure produced by the NAHB 50+ Housing Council.

Register online today for the Building for Boomers & Beyond: 50+ Housing Symposium to find out more on the federal Fair Housing Act and how it applies to you. [Return to top]