Age Restriction

The Villas at Providence is an age-restricted community.  Below are the provisions regarding this age restriction as they appear in the recorded Bylaws:

ARTICLE 7

HOUSING FOR OLDER PERSONS

            7.1.  Housing for Older Persons.   Units in are intended to be occupied as “housing for older persons”, as such term is defined in Section 36-96.7.A. of the Virginia Fair Housing Law, Title 36, Chapter 5.1 of the Code of Virginia (1950), as amended (“Virginia Fair Housing Law”). The provisions of this Article 7 are intended to be consistent with, and are set forth in order to comply with, the Fair Housing Amendments Act, 42 U.S.C. Section 3601 et seq., as amended (“Fair Housing Act’), the exemption there from provided by 42 U.S.C. Section 3607(b)(2)(c) regarding discrimination based on familial status and the Virginia Fair Housing Law.  In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of this Article 7 and those of the Fair Housing Act or Virginia Fair Housing Law, the Fair Housing Act or Virginia Fair Housing Law, as the case may be, shall govern.

            7.2.  Occupancy.

7.2.1.   The Declarant intends that each Unit be occupied by a person who is 55 years of age or older (“Qualifying Occupant”) who considers the Unit as his or her legal residence and actually resides in the Unit for at least 6 months each calendar year.  No Unit may be occupied by persons who are not Qualifying Occupants unless such Unit is also occupied by at least 1 person who is a Qualifying Occupant or such occupancy is otherwise permissible pursuant to the Virginia Fair Housing Law.

  7.2.2.  Upon the death of a Qualifying Occupant who is the sole Qualifying Occupant of a Unit with 1 or more other occupants, the surviving occupants may continue to occupy the Unit as long as such occupancy does not result in a violation of the Fair Housing Act or the Virginia Fair Housing Law.

7.2.3.   This Article 7 is not intended to restrict ownership of or transfer of title to any Unit, provided no Unit Owner may occupy or permit occupancy of a Unit in violation of the provisions hereof.

7.3.  Contract Provision.  In any contract for sale, lease or other occupancy agreement relating to a Unit, the Unit Owner is required and agrees to state in conspicuous type that the Unit and all other Units in the Condominium are intended for the housing of persons 55 years or older, as is set forth in Section 7.1 of this Article 7.  Each Unit Owner further agrees to clearly disclose such intent to any prospective lessee, purchaser, or other occupant of the Unit.  Each lease for or other occupancy agreement relating to such a Unit shall be in writing and shall provide that failure to comply with the provisions of this Article 7 shall constitute a default under such lease or agreement.

 7.4.  Notification of Change in Ownership.  In the event of any change in ownership or occupancy of a Unit subsequent to the sale thereof by the Declarant to a third party, the Unit Owner shall notify the Board of Directors in writing within 10 days of the names and ages of all current occupants of the Unit and provide the Board of Directors with such information as it may determine to be required in order to verify the accuracy of such information.

7.5.  Action to Assure Compliance.  In furtherance of the foregoing, the Board of Directors may take such action as it deems appropriate to assure compliance with the provisions of this Article 7, the Fair Housing Act, and the Virginia Fair Housing Law, including but not limited to periodically conducting a census of occupants of Units, requiring copies of driver’s licenses, birth certificates, passports, or other satisfactory evidence establishing an occupant’s age, and barring from occupancy any occupant whose occupancy would result in violation of the Fair Housing Act and or Virginia Fair Housing Law.

7.6.  Unit Owners Responsible for Compliance.  Each Unit Owner shall be responsible for ensuring that occupancy of his Unit does not result in a violation of the Fair Housing Act or Virginia Fair Housing Law and shall fully and truthfully respond to any and all requests for information related to the provisions of this Article 7 received from the Board of Directors.  Each Unit Owner hereby appoints the Declarant (for so long as Declarant is a Unit Owner) and the Association, acting through the Board of Directors, as his attorney-in-fact for the purpose of taking such legal actions as may be necessary to dispossess, evict or otherwise remove occupants from his Unit whenever the presence of such occupants results in a violation of the Fair Housing Act or Virginia Fair Housing Law and indemnifies and holds the Declarant or Association, as the case may be, harmless from and against any and all claims, losses, damages or other costs whatsoever, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, arising out of or resulting from any dispossession, eviction or other removal action initiated pursuant to this Section.

            7.7.  No Occupancy by Persons Under 19 Years of Age.  No person under 19 years of age shall be housed or domiciled or shall reside in any Unit.   For purposes of the foregoing, a person shall be deemed to be housed, domiciled or to reside in such improvements if he or she stays overnight for more than 21 days in any 60-day period or for more than 30 days in any 12-month period.

            7.8.  Satisfying Requirements.  The foregoing requirements shall be met by allowing no more than 20% of the Units to be occupied by persons all of whom are not Qualifying Occupants on a first-come, first-served basis. If, at any time, 20% of such Units are occupied by persons none of who is a Qualifying Occupant, no other Units may be occupied unless at least one of the occupants is a Qualifying Occupant.

7.9.  Waivers.  Any Unit Owner may request in writing that the Board of Directors grant a waiver of the requirements of this Article 7 with respect to his Unit.  The Board of Directors may, but shall not be obligated to, grant any such request, provided that the Board of Directors may not grant any such request if the result would be a violation of the Fair Housing Act or the Virginia Fair Housing Law.

            7.10.  Indemnification.  Each Unit Owner hereby indemnifies and agrees to hold the Declarant, the Association and all other Unit Owners harmless from and against all claims, losses, damages and causes of action (including attorneys’ fees and court costs) which may arise from any act or omission on the part of such Unit Owner that results in a violation of the Fair Housing Act or the Virginia Fair Housing Law.