Sunday, May 1, 2016

Whites only.... wtf?


We met with our realtor today to have a beer, get a check from her and discuss where we are with our new buyers. We have come up on one small glitch. Of course.... it couldn't be all smooth sailing. The buyer's attorney uncovered a covenant from the 1950's for our neighborhood that says only caucasian people are allowed to live here...... WTF! In that case we have several neighbors that are in violation because our neighborhood is a mix of races. I wonder how we missed this when we bought the house.... our realtor is African American and our buyer's realtor is lesbian, so neither are very amused by this new information. I am just ashamed for whatever fool declared this covenant to begin with, and thank goodness it is in reality, unconstitutional.  It also says our house has to be so many feet off the road, we measured, it is, but our plat is wrong. Can anybody get anything right?! Like this covenant would really hold up anyway, but still....

We are in a holding pattern, while new inspections for our new buyers take place. They have been very pleasant to deal with, unlike the devil's children we finally got rid of. Last week they had the house inspected, septic inspected, a contractor came, mom and dad came. I was out of town all week so poor Gerry had to deal with keeping the house up for all of the traffic in and out.

I have been home two days, head back out tomorrow for Tennessee, the next week back to the eastern part of NC then the next week to South Carolina. I'm tired, we are living out of boxes, we are still living with uncertainty, though not as bad, we think this contract will stick. I really just want my life back.

5 comments:

P MacGillivray said...

Many deeds still carry that covenant. However, in 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not enforce the racial restrictions. In 1968, Congress outlawed them altogether.

The NAACP is working to have them removed from neighborhoods bylaws even though they are unenforceable. They are deemed to be still hurtful.

I think it is only circumstances like these where they are discovered and you can make a positive move to strike them from your deed.

Tracey Broome said...

What I would like to know is why an attorney didn't know this and why he even brought it up!
The house across the street from us was sold by Koreans to an African American family so, bye bye convenant, ha!

Dennis Allen said...

It's always something or something else.Sounds like it will work out.

Lori Buff said...

It’s so hateful that people would even think about writing something like that covenant.

Michèle Hastings said...

Just catching up after a hiatus from most things on the web... great news that you have a new buyer! It's amazing what can be discovered in a title search that was missed during previous sales. There are also many buyers that never read the covenants and restrictions on their deeds.
It sounds like you have solid buyers this time, can't wait to see more photos of your new home!