I saw this in this morning's paper:
Neighborhood residents fight bylaws, say association is fostering racial bias
By Milton D. Carrero Galarza
Staff Writer
Posted October 11 2003
Miramar · Dozens of residents in a predominantly black Miramar neighborhood are accusing their homeowners association of secretly implementing new bylaws that could be used to discriminate.
Outraged, more than 94 minority owners in the 173-home Franklin Farms community, located near Douglas Road and Miramar Boulevard, have formed a coalition to reverse the new rules, which forbid residents from giving, leasing or selling their homes without the association's approval.
There are five minorities on the nine-member board that approved the rules change.
While such reviews are not uncommon, the association must disclose its criteria for approval, said Gary Poliakoff, whose law firm specializes in real estate law. Race, nationality, religion or disability cannot be considered.
But the association's president, Nancy Holloway, has refused to disclose the criteria to the homeowners, saying it is a "private thing" determined on a case-by-case basis.
There are no interviews. Race is not part of the application, "but if you can tell what color they are by their name, that's fine and dandy," said Holloway, a community activist known for helping the disadvantaged.
Cecil Wray, a Jamaican-American who is vice president of the association, says the board has no specific criteria, just a goal to keep out people of "questionable character."
The lack of criteria worries the homeowners, who fear the board might not let them give their homes to family members or sell them to a minority buyer.
The new rules come as Miramar undergoes a dramatic demographic change. Once an Italian-American enclave, today 43 percent of its 95,921 residents are black; 30 percent are Hispanic. It is the only city in Broward County to have a Jamaican-American majority on its city commission. The city has the only neighborhood in Broward where 75 percent of residents don't speak English as a first language.
The controversy erupted about six weeks ago , when Marlene Campbell, a black police officer, was cited for putting up a "for sale" sign in front of her house. Campbell said she has seen other signs around the neighborhood and thought Holloway was singling her out.
