Realtors challenge Philadelphia's ban on 'sold' signs

The Associated Press

04.21.00

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PHILADELPHIA — The ordinance was born in the tumult of the civil rights era, when city leaders feared "white flight" from neighborhoods and unscrupulous realtors pitching "Sold" signs to spread alarm and generate quick sales.

So city officials banned "Sold" signs on residential property completely. And three decades later, the ban remains, long after its backers have reconsidered and other cities have overturned or disregarded similar laws.

"I think we're the last big city with that law on the books and still being enforced," said Kevin Vaughan, executive director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, which advocated the 1970 ordinance but now favors its repeal.

A Realtors organization has now decided the "Sold" ordinance should be "trashed."

The 1,500-member Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors filed suit in federal court after a five-year effort to repeal the law died in the City Council in December.

"We were kind of left with no alternative but to go to federal court and sue the city," said Realtors President Frank Jacovini yesterday. The suit filed last month asks the court to declare the law unconstitutional and bar the city from enforcing it.

Philadelphia was not the only city to take such action to put the brakes on massive flight by white residents afraid of falling property values as their neighborhoods became integrated.

"'Sold' signs were targeted (in Philadelphia) because that was the clincher for people to kind of say, 'Look, the Browns are selling their house because African-Americans are moving in; maybe we should sell too before the property values go down,'" Vaughan said.

Other municipalities such as Willingboro, N.J., went even further, banning both "Sold" and "For Sale" signs.

But in 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Willingboro's ban, ruling in Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Willingboro that the community was violating the First Amendment by "restricting the free flow of truthful commercial information."

Philadelphia, undeterred, asked real estate agents to choose whether to put up "Sold" signs or "For Sale" signs, but not both, Jacovini said. Agents decided to continue putting up "For Sale" signs.

Councilman James Kenney introduced a bill in the mid 1990s to try to repeal the ban, but support evaporated after some neighborhood groups opposed the repeal and some members tried to leave large areas of the city still under the ban.

"About 40 percent of the city would have still been subject to the provision," said Councilman Michael Nutter. "At that point, it didn't make any sense any more."

Kenney withdrew the bill in December, after which the Realtors decided to file suit.

Jacovini says the ban on "Sold" signs is unnecessary because of stronger fair-housing laws. His group also believes the signs actually serve an important public purpose by informing people homes are selling and the community is viable.

Christopher Artur, a longtime Philadelphia broker, says he doesn't see any benefit from the signs and changing the rules in the current strong housing market would be harmful.

"If I put up six sold signs on one block, what does that tell you?" he asked. "That people are selling and people are fleeing."

Arthur believes there is no consumer benefit to "Sold" signs. "It's advertising for the real estate broker," he said. "It doesn't benefit the buyer and it doesn't benefit the seller."

Ralph Holmen, associate general counsel of the National Association of Realtors, said some areas still restrict or ban "For Sale" or other real estate signs, but Philadelphia's ban on only "Sold" signs may be unique.

Restrictions or bans are usually directed at "For Sale" signs, sometimes to counter "white flight," and sometimes supposedly to preserve an area's aesthetic character. Once challenged, they fare poorly in the courts, he said.

Olney resident Barbara Bishop, long active in community affairs, says she does not know whether there will be any effect if the ordinance goes, but she says it has raised awareness that many things, including the actions of realtors, can affect peoples' desire to move.

"There are all sorts of subtle pressures that happen when a neighborhood starts to change," Bishop said. "It's not just because people want a bigger house or a bigger piece of grass."