Fair housing laws say let the children play

Question: I live with my two children at a large apartment complex. They are 10- and 7-year-old boys who like to play outside whenever they can. There’s no playground at the property, and the park is a few busy streets away, so instead kids will play in some of the grassy areas at the complex.

A few weeks ago my sons were playing with other kids on the grass when the on-site manager came by and told them to stop playing. The manager also took my son’s ball away from him and said he would need to pay a fine to get it back.

After that incident, I received a notice on my door reminding me of the community rules that forbid any jumping, running, sports, Frisbees and balls at the property. Now both my children are too scared to play outside, and I’m worried about getting another notice ending our tenancy. Can my apartment complex ban kids from playing outside?

Answer: The short answer is no. Children should generally be allowed to play in the common areas.

Federal and state fair housing laws protect families with minor children from discrimination.

These laws prevent housing providers from creating rules that single out children, because children have as much a right to use and enjoy the property as adult tenants.

Therefore, rules against playing in the common areas are generally not allowed, because these rules typically target children’s activities.

The main caveat to this is that housing providers can impose reasonable health and safety rules that are narrowly tailored to address a particular safety concern.

For example, if a housing provider is concerned about car accidents happening on the property, they could have a rule prohibiting all tenants from using the parking lot for anything besides driving, parking or accessing their car.

But a rule designed to address this type of concern would go too far if it prohibited playing everywhere at the property.

In the same way, if there have been multiple incidents of baseballs breaking windows at a property, a housing provider could prohibit all tenants from using baseballs in the common areas. However, a rule banning all balls from the property would be an overly broad response to the problem.

Current is fair housing director for Project Sentinel, a Bay Area nonprofit. For more information, contact Project Sentinel at 1-888-324-7468, info@housing.org, visit www.housing.org or contact your attorney or local housing agency.