Work is needed on two fronts. First, the Uniform Law Commission is developing a model or uniform law that can be adopted in all 50 states to eliminate racial and other discriminatory illegal covenants from land records, while preserving the historical record. Doing both – ridding deeds of illegal conditions and preserving the record for further study – is essential. Second, there are many enforceable covenants that remain legal and make it impossible to develop affordable housing. The number of homeowners associations and legal but exclusionary covenants has grown greatly in recent years. Planners need to know about the removal of illegal covenants and what they can do about the enforceable covenants. Without this knowledge and without action by planners, the best efforts of state and local governments to promote affordability will be for naught.
NPC Peer Reviewers assigned this presentation a learning level of Advanced. For more on learning-level descriptions, visit our General Information Page.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the Uniform Law Commission's work on removing racial and other illegal covenants from deeds and be able to assist in implementing the law when enacted.
Appreciate the impact of legal covenants that are roadblocks to developing affordable housing and know how to avoid and eliminate them.
Gain perspective on the role of private deed restrictions that defeat planning and zoning efforts to promote affordable housing and racial, social, and economic equity.
