Malta |
Code of Ordinances |
Part II. General Legislation |
Chapter 84. Fair Housing |
Article I. Discrimination Prohibited |
§ 84-6. Exceptions.
Latest version.
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A.Exception for single-family houses and owner-occupied dwellings.(1)Nothing in § 84-3. (other than Subsection C) shall apply to:(a)Any single-family house sold or rented by an owner; provided that such private individual owner does not own more than three such single-family houses at any one time; provided, further, that in the case of the sale of any such single-family house by a private individual owner not residing in such house at the time of such sale, or who was not the recent resident of such house prior to such sale, the exception granted by this subsection shall apply only with the respect to one such sale within any twenty-four-month period; provided, further, that such bona fide private individual owner does not own any interest in nor is there owned or reserved on his behalf under any express or voluntary agreement title to any right to all or a portion of the proceeds from the sale or rental of more than three such single-family houses at one time; provided, further, that the sale or rental of any such single-family house shall be excepted from the application of this article only if such house is sold or rented without the use in any manner of the sales or rental facilities or the sales or rental services of any real estate broker, agent, or salesman, or of such facilities or services of any person in the business of selling or renting dwellings, or of any employee or agent of any such broker, agent, salesman, or person, and without the publication, posting, or mailing, after notice, of any advertisement or written notice in violation of Article III of this article; but nothing in this proviso shall prohibit the use of attorneys, escrow agents, abstractors, title companies and other such professional assistance as may be necessary to perfect or transfer the title; or(b)Rooms or units in dwellings containing living quarters occupied or intended to be occupied by no more than four families living independently of each other, if the owner actually maintains and occupies one of such living quarters as his residence.(2)For the purpose of this exemption, a person shall be deemed to be in the business of selling or renting dwellings if:(a)He has, within the preceding 12 months, participated as principal in three or more transactions involving the sale or rental of any dwelling or any interest therein; or(b)He has, within the preceding 12 months, participated as agent, other than in the sale of his own personal residence, in providing sales or rental facilities or sales or rental services in two or more transactions involving the sale or rental of any dwelling or any interest therein; or(c)He is the owner of any dwelling designed or intended for occupancy by, or occupied by, five or more families.B.Exception for nonprofit and membership organizations. Nothing in this article shall prohibit a religious organization, association, or society, or any nonprofit institution or organization operated, supervised, or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious organization, association, or society, from limiting the sale, rental, or occupancy of dwellings which it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose to persons of the same religion, or from giving preference to such persons, unless membership in such religion is restricted on account of race, color, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin or sexual orientation; nor shall anything in this article prohibit a private club not in fact open to the public, which as an incident to its primary purpose or purposes provides lodgings which it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose, from limiting the rental of occupancy of such lodgings to its members or from giving preference to its members.