At least one major East End brokerage firm tells their agents to avoid the phrase "Steps from the Beach" in listings for fear that this might discriminate against people with disabilities and thus violates Fair Housing laws. We reached out to this firm for comment, but they had none (and wished to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the subject).
We asked a prominent real estate attorney about this, and he (anonymously) says:
It's a hysterical overreaction. "Steps from the beach" is an idiom in American English denoting an approximate distance. It does not, as they seem to think, mean "if you don't have legs you can't live here."Is the brokerage firm wise to be "better safe than sorry" or have they let the pendulum swing way to far? Your thoughts in the comments, please.
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