Unless 80% of Sun City residents validate their birthdate by the end of December the community will lose its 55+ housing status. If Sun City loses its 55+ status it would mean that the community could no longer prevent a buyer younger than 55 from buying a property in Sun City.
The 1995 Federal Fair Housing Act along with Title 71 of the Illinois Administrative Code, requires that “for a community to qualify as housing for persons 55 years of age or older, it must be able to produce verification of compliance through reliable surveys.”
The act continues “the procedures of age verification must provide for regular updates of the initial information supplied by the occupants of the community. The updates must take place at least once every two years.” 2022 is the year that Sun City must submit the required update documentation.
The intent of the Fair Housing Act of 1995 was to protect 55+ communities from being charged with housing discrimination. Any 55+ community can restrict home ownership based on age, which would otherwise violate the Fair Housing Act itself, as long as the community can provide proof that residents are, in fact, at least 55 years old.
Under the terms of the act, Sun City Huntley must produce verifications that 80% of the residents are at least 55 years old. The Community Association has made the verification process easy to complete by having a “Validate Your Birthdate” survey on the association’s website log-in page.
Deanna Loughran, Sun City Executive Director, did not respond to a request by My Sun Day News for a report on the percentage of resident verifications as of November 30.
The verification project began in September, 2022, with an October deadline. The deadline for residents to validate their birthdate has been extended several times since then and the deadline is now December 30, 2022.
The Association has attempted to make the verification process easy by checking birthdates in-person at the last Covid19 vaccine event and by offering home visitations for those residents that don’t have access to a computer.
If Sun City fails to provide adequate age proof, then the community could no longer present itself as a “55+ community” and would then not be permitted to restrict property sales based on age.
