LUBBOCK, Texas, June 16 (UPI) -- In a new trend in real-estate, developers are excluding sex offenders from purchasing homes in some subdivisions.
One Texas company, I&S Investment Group, barred registered sex offenders from buying a lot at a development in Lubbock -- and imposed daily fines for anyone convicted of a sex offense while living there who does not move out immediately, USA Today reported. A similar policy will be in force at another development in Lenexa, Kansas, where construction begins this summer.
"The sex offender deal has improved demand. It's probably increased our sales three to four times," Clayton Isom, a partner in the group, told the newspaper. "We're fighting sex offenders head on."
A new Web site, Blockwatch.com, lists homes available for sale that have no registered offenders living within half a mile. Taylor Goodman, the Texas man who founded the site, says only one-fifth of houses qualify.
Critics say the private efforts and local ordinances barring sex offenders from living near schools and playgrounds may give residents a false sense of security. They point out that sex offenders can still visit those areas and that too many restrictions on where they can live may simply drive more offenders underground.
