Does your area have a so called "brothel law" that makes renting a home with roommates difficult?

[AppleDumpling]

I always thought it was an urban myth, at least when referring only to all female residences as a brothel.

When we were touring college campuses, these laws were cited as an explanation as to why there were fraternity houses but no sorority houses. We heard this at a number of different schools; not sure whether it was a joke.

I’d be inclined to look up the details myself of any existing laws in a local municipality. But clearly restrictions based on gender would be discriminatory.

 

[Jen414]

I went to college in a town in CT on Long Island sound. Beach houses were rented by college students during the school year. The law was 4 unrelated people could live in a house. I do not know of ONE house that didn't have more people living there than were on the lease. We had 4 on the lease and had 8 girls. There were 4 bedrooms, so it really wasn't crowded. I'm not sure who could afford the rent if you didn't have "extra" people living there. My parents own a beach house in Maine. There is a college on the same beach and they rent to undergraduates during the school year. There is no "unrelated tenants" law.

 

[ThisIsJason]

In the city the university I work has a rule of no more than two unrelated people in single family homes/apartments, unless it is in the student ghetto. In the cities around where I went to college, they had a law no more than four unrelated people in single family homes/apartments, but it wasn't really enforced until something happened (a fire in a home I believe), and then they started cracking down on it. Made a ton of people mad due to how much more kids were going to have to pay for housing.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Usually it is the neighbors in some of these areas near the University that get things like this put through. Unfortunately all too often, people buy up houses near universities, divide them up into stealth dorms and the result is far more people live there then it was designed and laid out for. And much of it is substandard. And that of course makes property values plummet. And sewer systems, and roads, and infrastructure all designed for single family homes are all overburdened. These stealth dorms make a mockery of single family zoning.

 

[Sleepy425]

I went to Towson University outside of Baltimore and this was a law there (at least when I was there in 2002ish). I don’t remember how many unrelated people it was that made it illegal. There were no sorority houses due to this (or at least that’s what we were told). I don’t recall any frat houses either that I can think of. There was a house that a men’s sports team lived at off campus, but my details of that are fuzzy (for obvious reasons )

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Yes, where I attended University also had this bylaw...

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The city where my alma mater is located at has an ordinance. It's under the umbrella "Good Neighbor Ordinances"

Presently the ordinance is:

• City Code allows no more than three unrelated persons to reside in one housing unit in single-family zoning districts and in Detached Dwelling structures in non-single-family districts. No more than four unrelated persons are allowed in multi-family zoning districts.

So in other words it depends on the zoning. The ordinance advises the reasons is "the general public health, safety and welfare of the community is fostered and sustained with reasonable regulations related to the preservation of single-family uses in areas planned for single families."

The ordinance however is not applicable to dorms, sororities, or fraternities.

 

[Skippy918]

I always thought it was an urban myth, at least when referring only to all female residences as a brothel.

When we were touring college campuses, these laws were cited as an explanation as to why there were fraternity houses but no sorority houses. We heard this at a number of different schools; not sure whether it was a joke.

I’d be inclined to look up the details myself of any existing laws in a local municipality. But clearly restrictions based on gender would be discriminatory.

I had heard this too. I googled and it’s false. The rumor has been around since the 60s.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/house-of-the-writhing-son/

 

[kaytieeldr]

You can not have 2 or more unrelated adults living in a single family home.

Are you sure it's "two or more", and not "more than two"? The former would make cohabitation illegal, requiring a single couple wanting to live together to be already married. It restricts occupancy to either just one single person, or else a related party of two+.

 

[kdonnel]

Are you sure it's "two or more", and not "more than two"? The former would make cohabitation illegal, requiring a single couple wanting to live together to be already married. It restricts occupancy to either just one single person, or else a related party of two+.

Sorry. Your right. I had it right in the original post. Fixed it in the subsequent post.