Have you worked with a realtor and located the home of your dreams? Now, amidst all of the paperwork that has been provided to you about the property, you are sent the CC&Rs. What are those? And why does it matter to my purchase of this home?
CC&Rs stand for the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions. They are the rules between property owners and neighbors, oftentimes in a subdivision or a homeowners association, but not always.
As early as the 1900s, these CC&Rs prevented people of color and other marginalized individuals from buying and renting in certain neighborhoods. These racist covenants became illegal after the passage of the 1968 Fair Housing Act.
But this article is not just a “history lesson” on U.S. residential segregation because these racist CC&Rs still exist — here in Pima County, Arizona.
This week, I was collecting paperwork for my upcoming house listing. I noted the screenshots of the cover pages of the CC&Rs attached to this house. It was built in 1955. Some title and real estate companies are leaving this information out of the listing packets. They hope it will not highlight the historical discriminatory document tied to the property today.
On the cover of the CC&Rs, you will see that *at some point* the county recorder stamped the following notice on page 1:
“Any covenant, condition, or restriction in this document indicating a preference, limitation, or discrimination, based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin is omitted as provided in 42 U.S. Code § 3504, unless and only to the extent that the restriction (a) is not in violation of state or federal law, (b) is exempt under 42 U.S. Code § 3507, (c) related to a handicap, but does not discriminate against handicapped persons.”
Recently, I learned about the Mapping Racist Covenants Project and I wanted to share this information. Since 2022, the MRC Project continues to uncover current homes and subdivisions that have existing discriminatory CC&Rs attached to properties and subdivisions. This is not a tiny pocket of our city, it is a sizable swath of our city. The MRC Project focuses on those racist restrictions enacted from 1912-1968.
The MRC project website: <mappingracistcovenants.org> reveals an ARCGIS interactive map that the public can search by address.
Institutional project collaborators include:
- African American Museum of Southern Arizona
- Tucson Chinese Cultural Center
- Tucson Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center
- Southwest Fair Housing Council
- City of Tucson Department of Housing & Community Development
- University of Arizona
If you are a real estate agent, understand the properties that you are selling so that you can share this data with your buying and selling clients. It is our job to be the source of the source. If you are a buyer or seller, ask your agent for this information.
Pima County is among a large group of civil rights activists that have done the same historical mapping project of housing discrimination all over the country.
Mapping, redacting, and revising these CC&Rs is not a remedy to the issue of residential and housing discrimination. However, it is a necessary step to reducing harm done and preventing its perpetuation.
For further reading, go to the library and ask for these two books:
Get informed. Stay up to date. Reach out if you have further questions.