…and it was just Halloween this past weekend!  But this is not the time for a rant about whether this is the time for the Christmas holiday to be upon us.  Rather, I thought it might be helpful to address what seems to be an eternal question for the apartment industry each year…how much Christmas is “too much” Christmas at your community from a fair housing standpoint?   I am often asked “Can we say Merry Christmas?” or “Can we put a Christmas tree up in the lobby?”.  Way back in 1995, HUD issued a memo about which says that the “use of secularized terms or symbols relating to religious holidays such as Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, or St. Valentine’s images, or phrases such as “Merry Christmas”, “Happy Easter”, or the like does not constitute a violation of the [Fair Housing] Act.”  While that is a memo about advertising, I think it a logical hop, skip and jump to say that yes, you can say “Merry Christmas” to folks who come to your community.  As to that Christmas tree in the lobby, the answer to that is “yes” as well.  Just remember – no crèche with the Baby Jesus.  And I have it on good authority that the courts have determined a number of other holiday symbols to be generic or commercial in nature:  colored lights, Kwanza logs, dreidels, and even angels. So use them if you wish.  While I am certainly no angel, I hope that this bit of information has been helpful.  And since I may not have the opportunity to say it when the time is right:  Merry Christmas!