What are these deed restrictions?
When the original Meadowbrook tract was laid out in 1929, the deed for every property included a set of restrictions that defined many aspects of the neighborhood. Most of those restrictions are mechanical in nature — the required setback from each property line to our houses, etc. — but Paragraph XII states that “No lot or dwelling shall be sold to or occupied by a colored person.”
Click here to read the original deed restrictions in full (PDF file).
But I thought that racial covenants were ruled unenforceable by the Supreme Court in 1948. Why do this now?
A 1948 Supreme Court ruling actually found the restrictive covenants to be legal (though not enforceable with state force), and thus restrictions like these were actively implemented through realtor and marketing practices, here and nationwide, until the 1970s. They are just one example of systemic racism, which creates disparities in wealth accumulation, the criminal justice system, employment, housing, health care, politics and education. And even now they leave an emotional scar when a new homeowner reads them. While they do not reflect the views of many who live in Meadowbrook today, they continue to shape who chooses to live in Meadowbrook and who does not feel welcome here.
Are we trying to erase this ugly part of our history? …or hide it?
No, we are creating an addendum to our deeds, rather than removing any part of our deeds. That addendum will explicitly revoke the offending language and replace it with a statement based on language in the NYS Housing Discrimination Law, Executive Law Sec. 296:
The sale or occupancy of any lot or dwelling shall not be restricted on the basis of race, creed, color, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, age, sex, marital status, lawful source of income or familial status.
And how much will this effort cost?
With all the volunteer help we’ve gathered, the only significant cost we expect to incur is that of filing the deed amendment at the Monroe County Clerk’s office for each of the 288 homes in the original Meadowbrook tract. The Clerk’s office has estimated that doing so will cost the neighborhood a total of $1,200 or less — less than $5 per house.
How will you raise that money?
We have raised much of the money needed to cover the filing cost through small-dollar grassroots donations. We received one anonymous matching contribution that was a great help, too. In addition, we have received a number of enthusiastic contributions towards future CORD initiatives such as education projects.
And what’s the current status of the effort?
On November 1, 2020, we reached our goal! There are 288 homes in the original Meadowbrook tract — the newer homes on Danbury Circle were not encumbered with the same racial covenant — so we needed signatures from the owners of 216 of those homes to meet the 75% criteria specified in the covenants themselves. We garnered signatures from the owners of 225 homes, and now we’re working with the Monroe County Clerk’s office to file the deed amendment appropriately.
My neighborhood’s deeds have a restrictive covenant, too. What can we do about it?
As Meadowbrook’s CORD committee worked to revoke and replace the restrictive covenant in Meadowbrook’s deeds, we put everything we learned into a “how-to” document. Click here to learn more!
This page was last updated in the spring of 2021.
For further updates, please visit the new CORD website: https://www.meadowbrookcord.com