Legality around getting a certain of type of renter
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Anonymous
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We have a basement studio apartment I’d like to leverage for some extra income, but the obvious choices—Airbnb or a long term rental—hasn’t sat well with me for various reasons. Recently I came up with the idea of doing short term rentals, like a month or two or a summer, for young women who are working on issues I am supportive of. Like perhaps a PhD student doing research or an intern working at a non profit I believe in. I’d charge them steeply reduced rent and perhaps get to know some really sharp young people. This would also give us the flexibility to have the space open for the holidays, for example, so our parents can stay.
I mentioned this idea to a friend and she insisted that this was illegal and that I need to be in line with fair housing practices. Is that correct? Also, any ideas what networks I could reach out to where an offer like this could be welcome? I went to undergrad and grad school in dc so seems like many students or young people wouldn’t need something like this, as opposed to out of town schools. What are your thoughts? |
Anonymous
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I'm sure you'll hear from some lawyers here on DCUM, but as far as I know, as long as you'd be open to someone of any race/religion/sexual orientation/etc etc it's not illegal.
I will say that this seems just as dicey as AirBnB as far as having the space open for the holidays. If you have a renter with a legal lease I don't think you can ask them to vacate for random days, holidays or not. I would not assume that a presumably low-paid intern or PhD student has the funds to travel home for holidays, either. |
Anonymous
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You have a lot more legal flexibility when picking renters who are sharing your personal home than renting out a freestanding house or apartment. I am more familiar with Maryland regulations than DC, so you need to read up, but that is generally the case nationwide.
In addition: * You can definitely specify the time frame without it being discrimination * You can definitely choose where you advertise * You need to be ready that you may not rent your space since you are seeking such a narrow market Best wishes! |
Anonymous
OP here. Yes I am open any race/religion etc etc etc in that list, what I really don’t want is men, particarly the over 35 white variety. I also would generally look to rent to people with liberal political leanings. Like having a young woman working at planned parenthood would be awesome. I sort of don’t care if this is illegal, I want to do a small part to help a bit and this seems like a nice way to do it. But I also wanted to dcum gut check. Maybe my friend just thought my plan was stupid. |
Anonymous
Race, gender, and age discrimination are all illegal, so, yea, you suck. Also, I don't know where you live, but if it's in DC once you have a tenant you can't legally evict them even once their lease runs out so long as they keep paying the rent. You could easily have one of the nice women who you are trying to "help" the tables on you and refuse to leave -- and there's little under the law that you can do to evict her once that happens. I hope it does. |
Anonymous
| What if you offered to host someone for free? |
Anonymous
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Look, the bottom line is, who is going to escalate this? If you keep your mouth shut and don't air your views, exactly no one. They won't have sufficient evidence. The only ones dumb enough to get caught were the ones seen on video ranting against Asians (wasn't that an AirBnB case?) or similar. You'd be a lot more scrutinized, like the Trumps were, if you start implementing such a policy in an apartment building! And it would be only right, wouldn't you say, OP? We considered renting our basement to young women researchers at NIH. They mostly come from Asia, and are usually quiet and tidy. We are researchers and Asian too, and thought it would be interesting to support them. Some of our colleagues had to fight tooth and nail to be given the opportunity to work here, in the face of career misogyny and family who wanted to marry them off. However, the kids have taken over. Perhaps we'll revisit once they're out of the house... 
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Anonymous
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OP, just be sure this isn't in your listing. You are free to choose among the prospective tenants who apply--but you can't advertise it as only for younger POC. What you can do is advertise the rental in places where the types of tenants you prefer are likely to see the posting.
You do have some flexibility on gender preference in situations where you're renting out a room in your home, but it sounds like this is a separate basement unit, so that likely wouldn't apply here, or at least wouldn't in my state (but check your local law specifically). If you are in a city with rent control or other rental regulations, you also need to read through those carefully to understand what rights you have or don't have. I don't think this is a great solution if this is a unit you need open for things like the holidays, though. At best you'd be doing a series of short-term leases, and most renters are looking for longer term situations. If you want to do short-term, I'd just do AirBnB and set your preferred length of stay to a month. (In fact, our city and a growing number of others have regulations against short-term AirBnB rentals, so many people have to do this anyway.) And, as a PP noted, be prepared for it to sit empty some of the time. |
Anonymous
| When I was hunting for my current appartment some landlords were openly breaking the law (“oh good, you’re white” or “sorry, we don’t want children living here”) but I didn’t have the knowledge / time to report them. I bet a lot happens that’s not reported and, if you picked among possible tenants, I also don’t see how it would be shown you discriminated. |
Anonymous
| Go for it. Advertise with Women’s Studies departments at local universities or other programs that would attract similar renters. You could also target organizations that have formal summer internship programs and let the Coordinator know that you are interested in renting out your space at a subsized rate to one of their interns. |
Anonymous
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Some good information here.
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/does-the-federal-fair-housing-act-apply-your-rental-property.html |
Anonymous
| On the legal aspect of it, you'll need to check if your state/locality has its own fair housing laws to supplement the federal Fair Housing Act, but federal law provides an exception for owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units, so you renting out your basement may not be governed by anti-discrimination laws. |
Anonymous
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Advertise where your target market works and be specific about time such as 4 months, etc. Interview everyone but pick the best person for you. Keep your opinions to yourself about who you don't want.
That said, it's pretty racist and gross to want to exclude someone based on their race and age. |
Anonymous
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My best renter ever was a young gay man who stayed for three years, never gave a minute of trouble, always paid on time.
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Anonymous
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Totally legal if it is your own house AND not using a realtor.
Trouble is realtors abide by rules as well As Airbnb type places. You need to do craigs list, zillow, sublet.com, sabbatical.com type places. Advertise at local colleges might work. Don't work white guys don't want to live in basements owned by folks like you. |