I was reviewing the condo rules for a condo I am planning to buy as an investment, and it says that owners are not allowed to rent units to tenants with children under the age of 18.  Basically, no minor children of tenants can live in the unit. Is this legal to do? To not allow a tenant's child to live in the unit? Any lawyer or someone  with experience on this issue that can respond? Thanks!

@Sandra Cressey if the condo your buying is a 55+ community then you should read about the The Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA) is an exception that allows communities to operate as “55 or over” housing. They have restrictions on age.

If the condo you looking to buy does not have an age restriction then you should consider reading Fair Housing Act – in Florida Chapter 760 of the Florida Statutes is dedicated to discrimination issues that expand the protection to age and marital status. The term ‘familial status’ generally refers to occupancy by children (person under 18) with parent, guardian or designee of the parent.

Hope my information helps.

Thank you this is very helpful and I will review the fair housing act. It is not a 55+ building. Children of unit owners are allowed, just not children of tenants.

My parents live in a place here in Florida that is not reserved for 55+, but they have a "no children allowed" clause in their docs. I was also recently looking at the condo docs for a place that had a "no children under 16" rule, and it wasn't just for renters but for occupants as well. I don't quite understand how this is okay, but it seems to be common in Florida.

Rachel, thank you. It Appears to be against the Florida housing act. Question now is, can HOA still enforce their condo rules if they go against the Florida housing act? Housing act is effective 1992, what about if the condo rules were established before 1992? (As in my case) Thanks

I don't know the answer to this, but would love to see what some of the Florida experts think about it. Maybe one of the real estate agents will weigh in?

ask a RE attorney if it's legal, ask a Realtor if it's common.  condo's are sometimes notorious for either not enforcing any of their rules, or "making stuff up" because they don't have an attorney on their board to review their rules.

I was just talking with my realtor today about this, and she said something along the same lines, @Cathy Svercl . She said some of the HOAs have age discrimination in their declarations, but if they were challenged on it, they surely would lose in a court of law. @Sandra Cressey , did you end up buying one of these?

I'm in escrow now but on condition that I will get confirmation from HOA that tenants' children are allowed to live in the condo

Awesome! Let us know what they say.