WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) fined a Minnesota 55-plus community more than $40,000 for failing to allow a family with young children to live there. According to HUD, the community didn’t meet federal requirements for older-adult housing.

According to a condominium owner’s complaint filed with HUD, the Sandell Condominium Association and its property management company, New Concepts Management Group, told the man and his wife that they were violating the association’s document by allowing their minor children to live with them for more than 30 days in a calendar year. The association fined the couple and initiated a lawsuit against them in Minnesota state court in an attempt to get the children kicked out.

However, HUD stepped in and questioned the condo’s definition as housing for older persons. HUD alleged that the association failed to meet federal requirements because it failed to formally and routinely verify the ages of the complex’s residents. As a result, it could not be considered housing for older adults, and it could not ignore rules outlined in the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing providers, including condominium associations, from denying housing to families with children under the age of 18.

Under the terms of the Consent Order, 7000 Sandell Condominium Association, Inc., its property management company and the property’s off-site manager will pay the owner $30,000, pay his attorney $12,200, and allow the couple and their children to live in the condominium without fear of retaliation or harassment.

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