Is it legal to write a "love letter" to the seller in NY

[Jo W.]

Is it legal to write a "love letter" to the seller in NY?

Some people told me it's against housing discrimination laws...

[Russell Brazil]

It is not a matter of it being legal or illegal in itself. It is a matter that it could potentially lead to an illegal discrimination based on the information in the letter, or lead to the appearance of such. The letter will often reveal aspects about the potential buyer that may influence the seller to either like them more or dislike them more based on potential protected class status. 

Examples, the name of the person writing it will reveal their ancestry.  Or they may say, this is a great place to raise my kids. (Familial status discrimination)

NAR actually has a policy in place that if their members receive such letters with an offer, that they are not to be passed along to the seller due to the potential liability they may cause. A letter is not a part of the offer, so these can be withheld.

It is really important to for people to understand, that discrimination need not to have actually occurred for someone to feel like theyve been discriminated against.  You can do everything 100% correct, and someone can still file a fair housing complaint because they feel they were discriminated against. That is why it is imperative to always do everything by the book. Buyer letters are just a pandoras box.