WWYD…Real Estate…Refused Home

[J-rap]

I'm sorry.  It would drive me crazy to not know the reason.   Maybe he was just waiting on someone else's answer first, who had already looked at the house.  But it would have been nice if they had explained it.

[Kari C in SC]

It's illegal to refuse a rental in the us based on family size unless it specifically violates occupancy laws.

This is true, but as landlords we have the right to choose between applicants. If all things for income, credit, etc. are fairly equal it then comes down to potential for long term stays, pets and kids.

 

I love kids. I have kids. I love pets. I have pets. My house definitely shows that I have kids and pets.

[umsami]

As to not being rude to my face, I've found that people are rarely rude to your face (other than some stares), but that doesn't mean that they're not prejudiced.  It is the rare person who will say something to my face….but it still happens.  Usually it's just looks, though.  Heck, my DH has no idea what my parents really think about Muslims…what they've let loose sometimes…and hopefully he never will.

 

 

Re: painting….most of the leases we've had have said that tenants are not supposed to paint, put up wallpaper, etc.  So we never do.

 

 

We did do those vinyl stickers when DS1 was little…I think it was Thomas the Tank Engine…but haven't really tried to use them with the other kids.

 

 

Hopefully, there's just one more temporary move and then we'll finally be in our own home.  Keeping my fingers crossed, at least. :)

[flyingiguana]

Another possibility is that he's trying very hard to avoid an accusation of discrimination -- in fact, when one posts a housing ad on a place like craigslist, there are warnings about not advertising the place as "perfect for a couple" or "perfect for one!". Because these things can open you up for a discrimination lawsuit.

 

So he may just be taking that to heart. He may really not want to rent to a family (ie --kids) but knows he can't advertise that fact or he'll face a lawsuit (according to craigslist, which may or may not be the be all and end all of legal advice). If he has a logical mind, he will conclude that telling a family he won't be renting to them because of the kids will also land him in legal hot water.

 

It may not be true. It may only be the advertising of "no kids" that is illegal. It may only be craigslist that believes this (or is trying to protect itself). But I can see where he might come to the conclusion that telling anyone he won't rent to kids would get him sued. So he'd better keep his mouth shut.

 

If he has other choices for renters he doesn't need to tell anyone this. But he may be in an odd situation where he has no other potential renters, but he refuses to rent to kids (or more than 2 kids, or whatever), and if he admits this he may be open to legal action. Or may think he'll be open to legal action.

 

If it is true that refusing to rent to a family with a large number of kids is illegal discrimination, and if that's the reason he won't rent to you, are you as interested in pursuing a complaint?

 

Is it only the thought of religious discrimination that is bothering you?

 

Because, to be honest, I think religious discrimination is the least likely scenario -- unless you were getting some other vibe from him that we're not hearing.

 

And if it's the least likely explanation, it also means your complaint is not going to go anywhere.

 

Also, as already mentioned, if it were ME, I'd feel uncomfortable filing a complaint about religious discrimination if I didn't have more to go on. I don't like to make assumptions about people, any more than I like them making assumptions about me.

[flyingiguana]

Re: painting….most of the leases we've had have said that tenants are not supposed to paint, put up wallpaper, etc.  So we never do.

Even though our lease says this, we've worked with tenants who wanted to paint.

 

Well, we would have -- tenants have said they wanted to paint and then never got around to it, even though we said it was ok.

 

I'd be less likely to want wall paper. That's a pain to remove if it turns out badly.

 

Also, on some houses we've fixed up, the removal of permanent stickers was even worse than removing wall paper. So I'd be leery of stickers -- way more than I would be of paint.

 

When we've been open to tenants painting, we did want to go over the basics of surface preparation and approve the color. We don't want anything too dark, as painting over it may require more than one coat.

[Aelwydd]

Another possibility is that he's trying very hard to avoid an accusation of discrimination -- in fact, when one posts a housing ad on a place like craigslist, there are warnings about not advertising the place as "perfect for a couple" or "perfect for one!". Because these things can open you up for a discrimination lawsuit.

 

So he may just be taking that to heart. He may really not want to rent to a family (ie --kids) but knows he can't advertise that fact or he'll face a lawsuit (according to craigslist, which may or may not be the be all and end all of legal advice). If he has a logical mind, he will conclude that telling a family he won't be renting to them because of the kids will also land him in legal hot water.

 

It may not be true. It may only be the advertising of "no kids" that is illegal. It may only be craigslist that believes this (or is trying to protect itself). But I can see where he might come to the conclusion that telling anyone he won't rent to kids would get him sued. So he'd better keep his mouth shut.

 

If he has other choices for renters he doesn't need to tell anyone this. But he may be in an odd situation where he has no other potential renters, but he refuses to rent to kids (or more than 2 kids, or whatever), and if he admits this he may be open to legal action. Or may think he'll be open to legal action.

 

If it is true that refusing to rent to a family with a large number of kids is illegal discrimination, and if that's the reason he won't rent to you, are you as interested in pursuing a complaint?

 

Is it only the thought of religious discrimination that is bothering you?

 

Because, to be honest, I think religious discrimination is the least likely scenario -- unless you were getting some other vibe from him that we're not hearing.

 

And if it's the least likely explanation, it also means your complaint is not going to go anywhere.

 

Also, as already mentioned, if it were ME, I'd feel uncomfortable filing a complaint about religious discrimination if I didn't have more to go on. I don't like to make assumptions about people, any more than I like them making assumptions about me.

I think someone said up thread that the family size discrimination law only applies to landlords with 4 or more properties. Don't know if the same law excuses him from other forms of discrimination.

[Cera]

Just because the realtor told you yours was going to be the first application doesn't make it true.  It is entirely possible that there was a friend, friend of a friend, family member, etc that asked for a favor.  It is also entirely possible that there were other people who did exactly what you did and drove by, stopping to chat with the owner and view the property.  You never really know what goes on behind the scenes.  

 

My honest first assumption would be that he felt 5 kids was too many for a 3 bedroom house (because I think I would feel 5 kids was too many for my 3 bedroom house if I was a landlord).  In our state the occupancy limit for rentals is 2 per bedroom which your family would violate in that house.  

 

 

[PrairieSong]

We're landlords and we usually have more than one family/person filling out applications for the same property. We try to choose based on income, background check, references from past landlords, that sort of thing. It could very well be that someone else equally qualified wanted to rent that house, and the landlord had to choose. Without further evidence it's almost impossible to say what the reason was.

[umsami]

Not sure how people got the assumption that we have 5 kids, we do not.  I think one poster misread something.  We have four kids, thus two per bedroom.

 

I realize that 6 people is a large family in many parts of the US.  Four kids is two more than "normal" for many.  We know that.  But most housing codes have no issues with two people who are related sharing a room, or a family of six sharing a 3 bedroom home.  It was an 1800 square foot house.  Not huge, but I believe close to the average of around 2000.

 

 

But…we've moved on.