Any Moms live in a 1 bedroom apt?

[Anonymous]

I have a son who is nearly 4 and I just cannot afford our 2 bedroom apt anymore. Do any Moms live in a 1 bedroom place? I was thinking my son could have the bedroom and I could find a really comfy sleeper sofa for the living room. I have looked on Craigslist and a lot of the ads for 1 bedrooms say "single occupancy only." Is there some kind of zoning law that only allows 1 person in a 1 bedroom apt? Any tips on how to make this situation work? I don't mind doing it since saving hundreds of dollars a month would more than make up for the inconvenience. Any other ideas?

[Anonymous]

I did for 6 months with 3 kids. 3 kids in the bedroom, DH and I in the living room. I felt so poor, but did what I had to do. My mom tells me she did this with her parents/siblings when they first came to the U.S.

[Anonymous]

I Live in ONE room so yeah you can do it

for a one bedroom I would make it the bedroom and clothes room etc for you both

and then make the living room kinda more of a playroom/living room

when I had a one bedroom thats what we did

[Anonymous]

I would do it too, if I had to.

But you might want to check out coabode.com too, and find another mom with kids to live with. Women are doing this more and more to be able to afford a nicer house in a nicer school district.

[Anonymous]

The Fair Housing Act prohibits "family status" discrimination in housing rentals. See http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/FHLaws/yourrights.cfm. In general, a landlord can not refuse to rent to a parent because that parent has a child that lives with them. There are some exceptions -- like for retirement communities and landlords who have 4 (i think) or fewer units, (so if you're renting a unit in a private home, FHA doesn't apply.)

There is a way to flag posts on craigslist that are discriminatory.

If I were in your situation, I would apply for the apartment and not mention a baby, especially if the apartment is in an apartment building, which would clearly be covered by these federal laws.

There is a process for filing an FHA discrimination claim, but I honestly can't say how quickly or well that works.

[Anonymous]

Thanks PP. So if I apply to an apt complex with many units, I would be able to rent a one bedroom unit w/o getting their permission to have 2 people live in it? Is that correct? My current apt complex asks on the lease who is living in the apt. If I were to switch to a one bedroom unit in the same complex, they wouldn't be able to prohibit me from doing so b/c there would be 2 of us in that unit?

[Anonymous]

I am not 10:55 but am also looking at apartments. I wasn't going to mention anyone else who is living in the apartment who is under 18. I interpreted the application as referring to other ADULTS living there.

[Anonymous]

I am the OP. The apt complex where I currently live asks you to list whoever lives in the apt regardless of age (I think under age 18 is referred to as resident or something like that).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks PP. So if I apply to an apt complex with many units, I would be able to rent a one bedroom unit w/o getting their permission to have 2 people live in it? Is that correct? My current apt complex asks on the lease who is living in the apt. If I were to switch to a one bedroom unit in the same complex, they wouldn't be able to prohibit me from doing so b/c there would be 2 of us in that unit?

You know, I am PP but I don't know the answer to this.

I do know that if you put down you and your child and they turned you down for the apartment and then told you that they turned you down because you have a child, that would be illegal under FHA. But, in the real world, you would probably never know why they turned you down.

In the other situation, in which you don't put your child down, and they find out and then try to hassle you because of it, I imagine they would have to say that they want you to leave because you have a child that you didn't include on the form but that would be illegal under FHA to evict someone simply because they are living in the apt with a child. That doesn't preclude them from trying to force you out for some other reason, which would be a hassle to you, but pretty hard to actually evict you, I imagine, unless you were not paying rent.

Basically, if an apartment building would rent a 1 bedroom to two individuals, then they can't decline to rent an apartment to 2 individuals just because one is parent and one is child.

Is there some reason why you are worrying about being declined due to the child? Frankly, in my situation, even though I am single mom w/ 2 kids, landlords have always preferred to rent to me, because it means I will be stable, long term resident. They don't have to worry about parties, cigarette damage to the unit, etc. Especially w/ a 4 year old, who is probably with in the normal realm of voice volume, behavior and not damaging unit. Of course, you will often still have to meet income requirements applicable to all, etc.

I will say that large complexes do have real reasons for wanting to know the age of people in units -- what if there was a fire and certain-aged residents needed assistance getting out more than others? or what if the units are scheduled for lead-paint abatement -- they would want to do units with kids first (this actually happened in my case).

[Anonymous]

Seems to me that if you rent an apartment, and then - surprise - you uh.... gain custody of your minor child, then you just go down to the office and ask if you need to add the child to the paperwork or not. They can't kick you out for adding your child to your apartment. That is not legal.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. I am the OP. I never thought of 2 people living in a one bedroom apt (probably b/c I've never been married!) I guess the apt complex wouldn't care who that second person was anyway. I know my complex likes having families b/c they tend to stay longer and be quieter renters. My son is in bed by 8pm so there is never any noise from my place.

[Anonymous]

Me and my two kids (ages 5 and 2) live in a one-bedroom apartment. It didn't even cross my mind to mention that I would be having children living with me.

We make it work. I sleep on a fold-out couch in the living room and their beds are in the bedroom. All of our clothes are in the bedroom (thankfully the closet space is plentiful). So far the only problem we run into is just not having enough space to get away. Know what I mean? No one really has their OWN space. But, otherwise, it works! It's not like we're there much, anyway!

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Oh my goodness, I was JUST about to pose this question on the board!!! I am in the same situation as OP. I really can't afford our two bedroom anymore (utilities, espec. electric is killing me). DD already sleeps with me in my bedroom (in her own crib though) so we could save on heat and electricity, so I think I'll be comfortable in a one bedroom while she is still very young.

It's good to know there are other single moms out there who are making this type of living situation work.

[Anonymous]

I lived in a one bedroom with my husband, two huge cats, and my child up until he was 13 months old. We probably should have continued to do so as we are now swimming in housing payments. There was a lady in my building who lived with her teenage son in a one bedroom--so I know it can be done! Once our baby turned 13months we bought a two bedroom condo. In our current building there are several young families who live in one bedrooms with their children. One co-sleeps, one has given the bedroom to the 3.5 year old and the parents have the dinning nook, in another case, the parents sleep in the living room and the daughter sleeps next to them on a palette. The bedroom is a play area.

In DC at least, you can generally have 3 people in a one bedroom. It's really dependent on square footage but a rule of thumb is 2 people in a bedroom and one in the living area. I work primarily with low income Latinos in rental properties in DC and it is virtually unheard of for a single child to have a whole room to themselves! It's not ideal but I think you can get used to anything. Try to keep "stuff" to a minimum. When we lived in our little one bedroom, with minimal closet space, we were always sorting through stuff and getting rid of things to feel a little less cramped.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing. I know it isn't an ideal situation but it really seems like I am throwing money out the window every month that could be going somewhere useful w/ a 2 bedroom apt. I am glad to know I am not the only one who is thinking about a 1 bedroom (or already living in one). I guess I could put my dresser in the closet of the bedroom and have a nice queen sleeper sofa. I really do not have many clothes so closet space probably wouldn't be an issue esp since some apts have closets in the hallway too.