買方下標前，有可能不能附上buyer letter跟照片？

根據最新的房地產買賣合約，FHDA (Fair Housing & Discrimination Advisory) 10/20的更新，買房的offer如果有附加信(buyer letter)，尤其附上照片，會涉及歧視行為。（可參考FHDA第八條第Ａ項內容）

8. EXAMPLES OF CONDUCT THAT MAY NOT BE MOTIVATED BY DISCRIMINATORY INTENT BUT COULD HAVE A DISCRIMINATORY EFFECT:

A.Prior to acceptance of an offer, asking for or offering buyer personal information or letters from the buyer, especially with photos.Those types of documents may inadvertently reveal, or be perceived as revealing, protected status information thereby increasing the risk of (i) actual or unconscious bias, and (ii) potential legal claims against sellers and others by prospective buyers whose offers were rejected.

因此，以往買方買房有時會隨offer附上信跟照片，現在照片跟附加信的部分，則視情況被禁止或允許。

對於賣方而言，如果不願意收到買方的附加信，應於MLS標註：賣方不收附加信，如果offer跟附加信無法分開，則整份offer會全部退回給買方。

標示方式範例： “Per seller instruction, buyer letters that accompany an offer will not be presented to seller. If a buyer letter cannot be separated from the offer, the entire offer shall be returned to buyer or buyer’s agent.”

買方下標前，如果想附加信，請先詢問經紀：賣方是否有限制？

同理，賣方如果想避免歧視，不願意收附加信，也應書面告知經紀，經紀會於MLS揭露此訊息。此要求，適用於所有下標的買方，而非單一或少數買方。

CAR (California Association of Realtors) 也給予相關的建議：

給買方建議：附加信不犯法、但不建議。因為買方信中內容可能明示或暗示了買方的特徵、類別，此舉無法避免賣方受信的內容，影響賣方的決策，最後招致不可預期的賠償。

倘若買方堅持撰寫，應將內容著重於房屋品味、類型，避免涉及個人特徵或*法規限制的項目（例如：種族、性別、收入來源、婚姻狀態等。）

給賣方建議：為避免涉及公平住房法律索賠（Fair housing claim)，應以中立因素（neutral factor) 做決策考量，決策過程中應不受偏見影響，即使賣方接受買方提供的附加信。

更多房地產相關最新消息，歡迎來訊諮詢！

*附註：公平住房保護項目

Race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, familial status, source of income, disability, medical condition, citizenship, primary language, immigration status, military/veteran status, age, criminal history, and any arbitrary determination

參考來源：CAR, https://www.car.org/-/media/CAR/Documents/Transaction-Center/PDF/QUICK-GUIDES/Quick-Guide---Buyer-Interest-Letters-Accompanying-Offers.pdf?la=en&hash=3809E044C24862F303F731EB0883154D9442A259

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Photo by Álvaro Serrano