The Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA) was discussed in Sun City since September, 2022. Uncertainty and speculation about HOPA caused concern among residents. Many questions, claims, and counter-claims arose after the December 14, 2022, edition of My Sun Day News was delivered. The following was discovered after future research by My Sun Day News.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper, in an article about the Del Webb 55+ community being developed in Henderson, Nevada, at Lake Las Vegas, reported that “It should be noted that HOPA requires an association to adopt procedures that provide for updates at least every two years. The association must be able to produce verification of occupancy and residents’ ages; generally, this requires a driver’s license, birth certificate, passport or other official identification.”
The article continued, “If an association fails to monitor its 80 percent occupancy requirement, it would be in violation of the federal law and subject to civil monetary penalties from the Department of Housing and Urban Development or even lawsuits initiated by individual members of the association.”
The article concluded, “The association also would face the possibility of losing its legal ability to enforce the age-restricted requirements of the community.”
Lynn Krupnik, Real Estate Attorney, stated, “If the association fails to keep track of the number of seniors living in its community, or if it fails to do surveys every other year, it could fall out of compliance.”
The website NeighbornoodLink.com commented, “Failure to comply with the provisions of the Fair Housing Act and Housing for Older Persons Act will result in loss of protected status. Should this happen, the community could no longer legally restrict the sale of homes to persons under 55 years of age.”
The website Sunlightliving.com reported, “If a community fails to comply with the provisions of the mandated acts, it will lose its protected status. The community can no longer impose restrictions on buyers or renters who are under the age of 55 years.”
My Sun Day News asked Marilynn Berendt, Jim Papak, Linda Davis, and Jim Uszler for comments that they might have on the 55+ age verification process.
Berendt, Sun City Board President at the time of the 55+ age verification process, was asked:
1. How involved was the Board of Directors in the 55+ age verification process?
2. What direction did the board give to Ms. Loughran on the conduct of the process?
3. What would you and the board do differently?
Berendt replied, “The Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (the “Act”) requires all age restricted communities [such as Sun City Huntley] to establish procedures to collect reliable age documentation at the time of occupancy and to update, through surveys or other means, the initial information provided by occupants of the community every two years.”
She continued, “To comply with this law, the Board of Directors instituted policies found in 4.1 and 4.5 of the Operating Rules and Regulations for Sun City Huntley, that require every new resident to submit an Age Verification Form along with proof of age prior to closing on the property.”
She added, “On October 1, 2022, Management began a ‘Validate your Birthdate’ campaign utilizing the Sun City Community Association’s communication tools to spread the word of the requirement and campaign. Announcements were made at the Board of Directors meetings, in the Lifestyles, on the website, on postcards and through weekly announcements from Management. Each resident was asked to log into www.sccah.com. Upon doing so, they would be asked to confirm/attest to their date of birth and personal information. Personal information is maintained on the Association’s network which is overseen by Team Logic, the technology advisory/contractor.”
Berendt concluded, “As you know the Board makes policy and Management carries them out. We work together in a collegial manner in making Sun City the premier Active Adult Community that it is.”
Papak, Chairperson of the Neighborhood Advisory Council, Davis, Chairperson of the Charter Club President Council, and Uszler, President of the Neighborhood Watch, were all asked if their organizations had been contacted to assist with the 55+ age verification process.
Papak replied, “I was told that Deanna Loughran and Marylin Berendt were the people to ask about any issues concerning the age validation.”
Davis replied, “It was mentioned at a meeting that it was something important to do.”
Uszler did not reply.
My Sun Day News contacted Loughran and asked about the final percentage of resident age verification, the counts per neighborhood, if the Neighborhood Advisory Council or the Neighborhood Watch or the Charter Club Presidents Council were contacted to assist in the age verification process. And, if those councils were not recruited, why not. She was also asked, what was her rational for not telling residents that the age verification process is a Federally mandated census and that failure to comply has significant consequences.
In addition, she was asked to comment on the following information gathered from the FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) section of the HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) website:
QUESTION: How frequently should a housing/community provider update its lists of occupants to be in compliance with the age verification requirements of HOPA? Are there any consequences if a housing provider fails to update its list of residents?
ANSWER: HOPA requires that a housing facility/community re-survey its lists of residents every two years to ensure that the 80% requirement is met. A housing community’s or facility’s failure to survey or re-survey its list of occupants in accordance with its age verification procedures does not demonstrate intent to housing for older persons, and could jeopardize the housing community’s status as 55 or older housing.
Loughran’s response was, “It is the Association’s policy not to respond to questions from the press. In efforts to clarify this subject that has been covered by many sources, please see the attached article from the September Lifestyles magazine. If you still have questions regarding the information Management provided from the beginning of the campaign, please review any Friday eblast since that time, or the postcards printed to provide information and directions on attesting to one’s information.”
She concluded, “Management will provide information to the community regarding the final results via the Association’s communication tools in January.”
The September 2022 Lifestyles article, forwarded by Loughran, contained the following, “To continue as an age restricted community, policies and procedures must be in place to verify that at least 80% of the community is 55 years or better throughout occupancy” and “To remain compliant with the terms of the Act, each resident who resides in a Sun City home must review and positively attest that the birthdate information on record is correct. A census must be taken every two years.”
The article also included, “In the month of October, our website (Northstar), will be used to electronically collect confirmation from each resident that the birthdate information is correct. All members of each household MUST log into the resident portal of www.sccah.com. Once logged in with a member number and password, a “pop-up” prompt will request verification of this information.”
A commentary on the 55+ age verification process appeared in the January, 2023, edition of the Sun City Lifestyles magazine. In it Loughran reported that the campaign “achieved approximately 78% community compliance.” The commentary also included that a community “must be able to produce, in response to a complaint filed under this title, verification of compliance,” and “the community is not a risk of losing the right to operate as an age restricted community.”
