Fixing discrimination in deeds | Real Estate Newsletter

I think by now, most of us are aware that in the not-too-distant past, homeowners, developers, and communities wrote housing discrimination into official records such as property deeds in towns and cities throughout the country.

But have you checked whether your own deed includes language banning certain groups based on their race, religion, or native country?

For years, homeowners in New Jersey and Delaware have had a way to renounce discriminatory language in their deeds. Now, Pennsylvania homeowners do, too.

Keep scrolling for that story and the rest of this week’s edition:

📮Have you or someone you know come across discriminatory language in a deed? For a chance to be featured in my newsletter, email me.

— Michaelle Bond

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In 1927, 44 homeowners living on a street in Germantown got together and agreed that only Caucasian people could buy or rent their properties.

Then they took their agreement a step further.

If anyone of any other race occupied any of the properties, the restrictive covenant read, the neighbors could evict them “by force of arms.”

Restrictive covenants or deed restrictions are private limitations on how property can be used that stay with the property from owner to owner. They can ban certain activities and structures — outhouses, for example — and historically were used to ban certain people.

Racial restrictive covenants are now illegal and have been for decades. But a century ago, homeowners and developers could be as broad or specific as they wanted to be in deciding who to keep out.

Among those that restrictive covenants listed as banned in Pennsylvania communities were people who were:

Late last year, Pennsylvania passed a law that allows property owners to file a one-page form that gets attached to the deed and disavows and nullifies discriminatory language in it.

Yes, the restrictions already are unenforceable. But the Montgomery County lawyer behind the push for the law says it’s about “taking [the language’s] power away.”

I take a look at the law six months after the form to renounce restrictive covenants became available to homeowners.

In my Sept. 26 newsletter, I asked anyone here who owns a tiny Shore home to email my colleagues Erin McCarthy and Ariana Perez-Castells. They were looking to follow up on their first story about the people holding onto their older Jersey Shore bungalows as new, bigger homes go up around them.

That story was a hit with readers. And hundreds of people shared their opinions on social media. One said about the owners: “May they be forever blessed, preserving the last of the classics.”

Predictably, readers also were eager to tell us about small homes we’d missed. So we’ve highlighted a few more beach bungalows down the Shore.

Some were built a century ago. Some are bigger than others. One is worth $1 million more now than the price the owners paid in 1996.

Take a look at these homes and find out what owners love about their bungalows.

Chuck and Linda Ormsby’s oceanfront beach home is not tiny.

The 3,200-square-foot Ocean City home in the lower part of a duplex includes five bedrooms and 5½ bathrooms. Two of the bedrooms have their own decks.

The Ormsbys share a large back patio with the residents of the duplex’s upper residence. Steps from the beach, the patio has a fire pit, grill, and lots of seating.

All that space comes in handy when their family of 17 gets together. The Ormsbys also are devout Catholics who enjoy hosting clergy at their home.

When the Ormsbys bought their home in 2018, they also were drawn to the second floor’s 30 feet of floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors. They have clear views of the beach and ocean from their kitchen, family room, and dining room.

Peek inside the Ormsbys’ home and read about the unusual encounters the family has had there, including that time a huge amphibious vehicle emerged from the ocean.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a record settlement with Philadelphia Energy Solutions over a fire and explosions at a refinery that rocked South and Southwest Philly in 2019.

Question: What’s the settlement amount?

A) $2.1 million

B) $4.2 million

C) $5.5 million

D) $6.3 million

This story has the answer.

Do you know the location this photo shows?

📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.

Last week’s quiz featured a photo of the entrance to Rittenhouse Square at 18th and Walnut Streets. Shout out to Barry M., Heidi Y-O., and Gerrit B. for getting that right.

Gerrit called the park his “favorite place on earth.”

Last week, I asked what you did when your kids left the nest. Did you downsize or hold onto the home you had?

Sue H. in Bucks County told me that she and her husband went international when their third daughter left for college. They moved to Singapore.

“We had a delightful five years learning a new culture and language, eating delicious food, traveling throughout Asia, and making friends with people we never would have met by staying in the U.S.,” she said. They lived in a two-story, four-bedroom, six-bathroom penthouse atop an apartment building.

When they came back to Bucks County, they downsized their house and yard. “Twenty-two years later, we’re still enjoying the smaller place,” she said.

They also bought a condo in Portland, Ore., to be near their oldest daughter and her family.

“Maybe our choices wouldn’t appeal to everyone, but they certainly provided us and our daughters with great adventures!”

Enjoy the rest of your week.

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