This Article analyzes how an exemption to the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA) and the rules governing age-restricted communities intersect to affect the fundamental right of families to cohabitate. The Author focuses on the FHAA senior-housing exemption and how it negatively impacts minors—namely grandchildren—seeking to stay with extended family—usually grandparents—due to unfortunate emergency circumstances. This Article uses the constitutional justification from Moore v. East Cleveland and its line of cases to support a right of family cohabitation, based on the right of free association. The Article further contends that the right of family cohabitation is justified based on this country’s history and tradition of extended family caring for minor relatives.
The Author proposes a federal exception to the FHAA senior-housing exemption that would allow minors in unfortunate circumstances to live with extended family in age-restricted communities, arguing that the proposed exception comports with the Supreme Court cases that establish the right of family to associate as a fundamental liberty. The Author proposes several emergency conditions that should trigger an automatic exemption from an age-restricted community’s age requirement and explains why his proposed exception would benefit age-restricted communities.