OP, you're a little too starry-eyed about how you think this thing is going to work out. We have a furnished basement studio and we have rented to some really interesting young people but we never see them. They're not here to be our kids or protegees. Also what the other pps said about this being a business relationship is key. Focus on getting a good, reliable renter and the heck with the rest.

Okay that said, I advise that you get on your neighborhood listserve. I live in Capitol Hill and there are always folks who have a friend or family member coming to town for a fellowship or internship. I've gotten two renters that way.

Also once you get connected with a particular organization they may come back to you. I have rented to two students from the Academy for Classical Acting at Shakespeare Theatre that does an MFA with GW. I've also rented to folks connected to the Smithsonian fellowship program and they contact me every year to ask if I'm still renting the apartment.

Graduate students are my favorite tenants because I know that whether or not things work out they are going to go home at the end of the school year. I don't have to worry about a deadbeat tenant not paying rent. Also while they don't have a lot of money they do have access to student loans so it's likely that they are going to be able to pay the rent.

But, again, focus on the business. Contact organizations you're interested in supporting. Be realistic. Don't make assumptions about people based on race, class but do check them out carefully otherwise.

OP, you are not the soldier for the cause that you think you are; housing discrimination is not part of the cause.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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?

I don't know if you're new to landlording but what I see in your post is some grade A naivete. What you're doing is equating a certain set of views in a person to their perfection as a tenant, and it just doesn't work that way. These people aren't your friends. Your relationship is strictly businesslike. What you should care about is: do they pay on time? Are they good about maintenance and cleanliness? Are they weird? Are they going to use your microwave for food storage and forget about it for days, leaving you with a pest problem? Are they going to feed you a sob story every month about why they can't pay? Are they going to grill something on open fire and scorch the cabinets? Are they going to call you every time a light bulb needs replacing? Are they going to be snowflakes who can't be held to rights?

I assure you, a superliberal young POC woman is just as capable of being a major non-paying PITA as a young white male Republican! And vice versa! Are you going to be less annoyed snaking a toilet because it's liberal feces? No! You're just not going to care. Look for a good tenant first and forget the rest. You seem to want to exert an inordinate amount of control over all the wrong things.

+ 1

Op put the rent down 10-15 % below market. You will have many to choose from

I've got to wonder if PPs actually live in DC, as there are tons if short term internships where you are basically guaranteed a renter will be out at the end of the program. I did two of them myself at various times.

Advertise with programs you like or just be really clear on dates you have availability, and you should be fine. In terms of signalling you are looking for young, lefties...just describe yourself. If you are a vegan socialist (or whatever), you are unlikely to attract interns at the Cato Institute.

Anonymous wrote:Don't be a discriminatory landlord! The DC Human Rights Act prohibits housing discrimination based on:

• Race
• Color
• Sex (including pregnancy)
• National Origin
• Religion
• Age
• Marital Status
• Personal Appearance
• Sexual Orientation
• Gender Identity or Expression
• Familial Status
• Family Responsibilities
• Matriculation
• Political Affiliation
• Disability
• Source of Income
• Victim of an Intra-Family Offense
• Place of Residence or Business

So you cannot choose to rent only to Democrats who work for progressive organizations darker than a paper bag. You can choose to put up flyers on the bulletin boards of Planned Parenthood and Howard University and get an ad in the Afro-American, however.

From a systemic perspective, there are a lot more landlords who don't want to rent to people on the marginalized side of a protected class than landlords like you. The whole point is to make it a purely market-driven transaction - rent to the first qualified renter that applies. So by ignoring/undermining fair housing laws, you are making it harder for the people like your preferred renter, not better. Because your basement apartment isn't going to house them all and your renters are not going to live there forever.

There is a reason people want to rent to a particular group. Good luck with enforcing the above list.

A friend of mine does exactly this. She posts her short-term rental at universities and goes by word of mouth. I've known her to do this for 20 years and it has always been a success for her. She's a lawyer, so she probably knows how to navigate the ifs and whats.

Anonymous wrote:Don't be a discriminatory landlord! The DC Human Rights Act prohibits housing discrimination based on:

• Race
• Color
• Sex (including pregnancy)
• National Origin
• Religion
• Age
• Marital Status
• Personal Appearance
• Sexual Orientation
• Gender Identity or Expression
• Familial Status
• Family Responsibilities
• Matriculation
• Political Affiliation
• Disability
• Source of Income
• Victim of an Intra-Family Offense
• Place of Residence or Business

So you cannot choose to rent only to Democrats who work for progressive organizations darker than a paper bag. You can choose to put up flyers on the bulletin boards of Planned Parenthood and Howard University and get an ad in the Afro-American, however.

From a systemic perspective, there are a lot more landlords who don't want to rent to people on the marginalized side of a protected class than landlords like you. The whole point is to make it a purely market-driven transaction - rent to the first qualified renter that applies. So by ignoring/undermining fair housing laws, you are making it harder for the people like your preferred renter, not better. Because your basement apartment isn't going to house them all and your renters are not going to live there forever.

Nothing there about being a particular team fan. I can discriminate based on that.

Anonymous wrote:I have a single family house. I dont care about race, religion, etc.

But I dont rent to folks with bad credit, criminal records, over four people, smokers, folks with Pets. Also no work from home folks and both folks with outside the jobs homes.

I also like married couples with no kids. Sorry. Kids wreck the house and singles have parties and play music.

I rent a fully furnished condo. Pets, kids, smokers, folks who work from home all more wear and tear on my furniture. folks who make smelly food also an issue.

And kids, if ok kids alright I guess. But my house only has a queen bed and two twins, I dont have room for more than two kids.

Lets see a drunk who chain smokes with three dogs and bad credit who curses all day does not have the right to wreck my house. Single landlords are not really in business. In my case the tenants I view as stewards of my home who are taking care of it as their own. My condo nothing fancy but worth $400K and I own it outright. But I have a right to protect my investment. I also have a right to enjoy my property. Rent to a terrible person, the neighbors, police, HOA are on top of me. I may want to move back there one day and like to keep neighbors happy.

What?

So only a single person who WOH?

How do you know if a person teleworks?

Anonymous wrote:what POC stand for?

Person of color.

what POC stand for?

Don't be a discriminatory landlord! The DC Human Rights Act prohibits housing discrimination based on:

• Race
• Color
• Sex (including pregnancy)
• National Origin
• Religion
• Age
• Marital Status
• Personal Appearance
• Sexual Orientation
• Gender Identity or Expression
• Familial Status
• Family Responsibilities
• Matriculation
• Political Affiliation
• Disability
• Source of Income
• Victim of an Intra-Family Offense
• Place of Residence or Business

So you cannot choose to rent only to Democrats who work for progressive organizations darker than a paper bag. You can choose to put up flyers on the bulletin boards of Planned Parenthood and Howard University and get an ad in the Afro-American, however.

From a systemic perspective, there are a lot more landlords who don't want to rent to people on the marginalized side of a protected class than landlords like you. The whole point is to make it a purely market-driven transaction - rent to the first qualified renter that applies. So by ignoring/undermining fair housing laws, you are making it harder for the people like your preferred renter, not better. Because your basement apartment isn't going to house them all and your renters are not going to live there forever.

I really don't care if you specifically want to rent to a certain kind of tenant and refuse to rent to others. But don't complain if others do the same and won't rent to people like you. Fair's fair?

I have a single family house. I dont care about race, religion, etc.

But I dont rent to folks with bad credit, criminal records, over four people, smokers, folks with Pets. Also no work from home folks and both folks with outside the jobs homes.

I also like married couples with no kids. Sorry. Kids wreck the house and singles have parties and play music.

I rent a fully furnished condo. Pets, kids, smokers, folks who work from home all more wear and tear on my furniture. folks who make smelly food also an issue.

And kids, if ok kids alright I guess. But my house only has a queen bed and two twins, I dont have room for more than two kids.

Lets see a drunk who chain smokes with three dogs and bad credit who curses all day does not have the right to wreck my house. Single landlords are not really in business. In my case the tenants I view as stewards of my home who are taking care of it as their own. My condo nothing fancy but worth $400K and I own it outright. But I have a right to protect my investment. I also have a right to enjoy my property. Rent to a terrible person, the neighbors, police, HOA are on top of me. I may want to move back there one day and like to keep neighbors happy.

My co-worked just puts her ads up in Mandarin on line. She only rents to single Asian women with full time jobs.

She is a single Asian women in a two family home, She is comfortable this way and they are low maint, quiet people who pay rent on time and never bother her.

Totally legal, it is her primary house and not using a realtor.