Harvest 57 Housing
Housing listing rules
Harvest 57 is a community housing board. These rules keep it lawful and useful for everyone who reads it.
Describe the property, not the person
A listing describes the home: its rooms, its cost, its condition, its features, and what is nearby. It must not describe, prefer, invite, or exclude a kind of occupant.
No discriminatory language or preferences
A listing may not state or imply a preference, a limitation, or an exclusion based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, familial status, disability, or age. Familial status includes children, pregnancy, and anyone in the process of gaining custody of a child.
This applies to the title, the description, the photos, the captions, and anything you say to a person who answers your listing.
Wording that is not allowed
Phrases like “no children”, “adults only”, “Christians only”, “English only”, “no wheelchairs”, “mature couple preferred”, or “ideal for a single professional” are not allowed, even when they are meant kindly and even when they are true of who lives nearby.
Say this instead
Describe the property and let people decide for themselves: “one-bedroom apartment”, “no yard”, “stairs to the entrance”, “quiet street”, “near the school”. A fact about the home is always allowed; a judgement about the occupant never is.
Service and assistance animals are not pets
A no-pets policy does not apply to a service animal or an assistance animal, and a listing may not say that it does. Refusing one is a fair-housing violation even where the pets policy itself is perfectly lawful.
Describing accessibility is welcome
Saying that a home has a step-free entrance, a main-floor bedroom, or grab bars helps people find a place that works for them. That describes the building, which is the opposite of screening, and we encourage it.
Be accurate, and keep it current
Post only a home you own, manage, or are authorized to offer. Keep the price, the availability, and the details true, and mark the listing rented, sold, or not available as soon as that is the case.
No fees through Harvest 57
Harvest 57 never handles deposits, rent, application money, or purchase money. Do not ask a reader to pay Harvest 57, and do not describe any payment as being held or protected by Harvest 57.
Every listing is read by a person
A Harvest 57 administrator reads each listing before it appears, and may ask for a change, decline it, or take it off the board later.
If a listing breaks these rules
We may ask you to reword it, take it off the board, or decline future listings. Harvest 57 is not a housing authority and does not decide legal questions — it decides what stays on this board.
Not sure about something?
Ask us before you post. Rewording a sentence together takes a minute and is far better than a listing that has to come down.
Federal, state, and local fair housing laws apply to housing advertising. If you are unsure whether something you want to write is allowed, leave it out and describe the home instead.