{"id":6254,"date":"2022-03-08T15:07:07","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T21:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/oregon-judge-says-love-letter-ban-too-restrictive\/"},"modified":"2022-03-08T15:07:07","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T21:07:07","slug":"oregon-judge-says-love-letter-ban-too-restrictive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/oregon-judge-says-love-letter-ban-too-restrictive\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon Judge Says Love-Letter Ban too Restrictive"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While NAR says \u201clove letters\u201d from buyers to sellers may violate the Fair Housing Act, the judge says an actual ban violates the U.S. Constitution\u2019s free speech rights.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) \u2013 A federal judge last week issued a preliminary injunction blocking Oregon\u2019s ban on so-called real estate \u201clove letters\u201d \u2013 the nickname for personal notes from prospective homebuyers to home sellers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n In his court order issued last Friday, U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hern\u00e1ndez said the law violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by restricting free speech too broadly, The Oregonian\/OregonLive reported.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The conservative Pacific Legal Foundation filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court on behalf of the Bend-based Total Real Estate Group against Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and Real Estate Commissioner Steve Strode, alleging that forbidding the letters violated First Amendment rights.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The letters, often written to appeal to a seller to accept a potentially less-competitive offer, were outlawed as of Jan. 1 by Oregon lawmakers seeking to ensure that sellers couldn\u2019t make decisions based on race, national origin, marital or family status, sex, sexual orientation or other protected classes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The judge\u2019s injunction was a \u201cmajor victory for free speech and economic opportunity,\u201d said Daniel Ortner, an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, which says it defends \u201cAmericans from government overreach and abuse.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The ruling \u201cpreserves the opportunity of homebuyers to speak freely to sellers and make the case why their purchase offers should win out,\u201d Ortner said in a statement.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Oregon Real Estate Agency on its website said it will not enforce the law unless a further court order allows it to go into effect. Rosenblum\u2019s office didn\u2019t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Democratic Gov. Kate Brown signed the bill prohibiting the letters last year after it unanimously passed the House of Representatives and passed the state Senate on a mostly party-line vote.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Oregon State Rep. Mark Meek, a Democrat who is also a real estate agent, proposed the legislation. He has said he started to reconsider the practice of personal letters as he became more involved in work to combat housing discrimination.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s believed to be the first such law in the country.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n