What are the active adult 55+ communities in Scottsdale?

A 55+ community, also called an active adult community, is housing where one set of rules for the whole community includes an age requirement, and federal law allows that when the community is intended and operated for people 55 or older and meets three tests: at least 80 percent of the occupied homes have at least one resident who is 55 or older, the community publishes and follows policies that show that intent, and it follows HUD's rules for verifying occupancy. Arizona's fair housing statute has the same exemption. Which Scottsdale and nearby communities qualify is a question for each community's own written policy, and I'll show you below how to confirm it.

I'm Jen Keene, a REALTOR® with eXp Luxury in Scottsdale, AZ, and I'm the agent people call at every stage of their life. I haven't named specific communities here because the only lists I found were on listing websites that label communities for marketing, and a label is not the community's policy. I read the federal statute, HUD's regulations and the Arizona statute, with the source named next to each fact.

This is general information, not legal advice. Your own community's documents, an attorney and the association are the final word, and I checked each source on November 7, 2026.

The Fair Housing Act normally prohibits discrimination based on familial status, and it makes an exception for "housing for older persons." Under 42 U.S.C. 3607(b), the 55-and-older version has to be "intended and operated for occupancy by persons 55 years of age or older," and it has to meet the three tests above: 80 percent of the occupied units with at least one person who is 55 or older, published and followed policies and procedures showing that intent, and compliance with the Secretary's rules for verifying occupancy. The statute says surveys and affidavits can be used for that verification.

HUD's regulation, 24 CFR 100.304, defines the housing facility or community as a dwelling or group of dwellings governed by a common set of rules, regulations or restrictions, and says a portion of a single building doesn't qualify. It names condominium associations, cooperatives and mobile home parks as examples. This exemption is commonly called the Housing for Older Persons Act, or HOPA.

Yes. A.R.S. 41-1491.04 says the familial status provisions of Arizona's fair housing article don't apply to housing for older persons. It says the attorney general's rules for that housing must require that at least 80 percent of the units be occupied by at least one person who is 55 or older, with occupancy verified through reliable surveys and affidavits, and that the owner or manager publish and follow policies showing an intent to provide housing for people 55 or older. The statute's definition also includes housing intended for and solely occupied by people 62 or older.

Federal law and Arizona law both set out the 80 percent test and the published policy. I can't tell from the outside whether one particular community meets those tests, and neither can a listing website.

An ordinary homeowners association enforces rules about the property, and a 55+ community's rules also include an age policy. HUD's regulation says the community's intent is judged partly by how it describes itself to prospective residents, its advertising, its written rules and covenants, and whether it applies its procedures consistently, so the age policy shows up in those documents.

Everything else about the association works as it does anywhere else in Arizona: there are assessments, a budget, rules, and a resale package. I've written about which HOA law applies to you in Arizona and what to read before you buy, about the HOA resale package and transfer fee, and about what the association covers in a condo or townhome, and all three apply to a 55+ community too.

Start with the age policy itself, in writing. Ask the association for its declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs), and for any separate occupancy or age-verification policy, and read what it says about who must meet the age requirement for a home to qualify. HUD's regulation counts a community's written rules and covenants when it decides whether the community shows the intent to serve people 55 or older, and Arizona's statute requires published policies.

Then ask how the community verifies occupancy, because both the federal statute and the Arizona statute call for verification through reliable surveys and affidavits. If you're buying, ask what you will be asked to provide and when. Ask what the policy says about renting a home out, inheriting one, or owning one with another person, and get each answer from the document and not from someone's memory.

Read it before you make an offer, or find out how much time the contract gives you to review the association's documents. Here's how the inspection period works in Arizona. If an attorney should read the age language with you, that's worth doing.

Ask the association or its management company two questions in writing: does the community operate as housing for older persons under the Fair Housing Act, and where is the published age policy? A community that does should be able to hand you the policy. HUD's regulation lists the community's published policies, its advertising and its written rules among the evidence of intent.

A listing website's tag, a builder's brochure or a neighbor's recollection is not the policy. If you're looking at homes in a specific Scottsdale community, tell me the name and I'll ask for the documents with you. The written policy is the only thing that settles it.

Active adult housing is a place to live with an age policy. Senior care is a licensed service. Arizona law defines an assisted living facility as a residential care institution that provides or contracts to provide supervisory care, personal care or directed care services on a continuous basis, and the Arizona Department of Health Services licenses them. Those three levels are defined in A.R.S. 36-401 and on the department's own page, and they describe services provided to residents.

A 55+ community, under the federal rule above, is defined by its age policy and the occupancy tests, not by services. I'm not giving any medical or care advice here, and for questions about care, the licensed provider and the Arizona Department of Health Services are the right people to ask.

The order matters, because you're making two moves at once. After you sign a listing with me, I tour the next place with you in person, whether that's an active adult community, a lock-and-leave home or a larger home. Here's how my downsizing service works, and here's my post on how to downsize from a family home in Scottsdale.

If lock-and-leave is on your list too, I wrote about what to check before you buy a lock-and-leave home in Scottsdale, and the questions about association documents are the same. If you want to see how to think about retiring here, there's what to know before you retire in Scottsdale.

If you have a community in mind, get in touch or call me at (480) 203-6605 and I'll help you get its documents in front of you before you decide.