Can a Landlord Deny a Potental Tenant Because He Got A Bad Vibe?
Question
I own a duplex and I live in one of the units. Because I share the building with someone as well as renting to them I want to be more selective. If someone applies, their credit is good, but I just get a bad personal vibe from them, what are my options? Do I have to give a reason in writing?
Also, more than one other landlord has warned me about renting to lawyers. Sure enough, the first person to answer my ad was a lawyer, who’s stopping by to see it this weekend.
Answer
Because you have only one duplex rental property and live in one of the units you have some freedom under federal fair housing laws not enjoyed by most landlords. However, there are very strict rules regarding the exemption. For example, you cannot discriminate in advertising the vacancy – i.e., you cannot include any words in your advertising that implies even discrimination that might be legal under federal law. For discussion of various fair housing issues (per federal law), including the “small landlord” exemption, see the LandlordOnline.com “Managing Income Property” eCourse.
Keep in mind that some states and some municipalities have more stringent laws regarding certain aspects of both screening procedures and fair housing issues. These more stringent laws usually take precedence over less stringent federal laws. Thus, you may not benefit from the federal “small landlord” exemption and it is imperative that you become familiar with both federal law and any more stringent state or local laws.
Regarding renting to lawyers, lawyers are not a protected class under current federal fair housing laws so it is probably perfectly legal under federal law to refuse to rent to lawyers because they are lawyers, as long as you treat all lawyers the same. However, some jurisdictions may have fair housing laws with additional protected classes, including the applicants’ employment or profession. Accordingly, although I’d be surprised if any state has added the class of “lawyers” as a protected class to their fair housing statutes, you should carefully check the statutes or consult a competent landlord-tenant law attorney regarding this particular discrimination.
However, you would need to be certain that he is not covered under some protected class – e.g., race, religion, or national origin – something which may not be apparent to you. Finally, some jurisdictions may also prohibit arbitrary discrimination – e.g., obesity, occupation, or other characteristics or traits. Furthermore, a judge could determine that you discriminated in this way even if there is no specific written law regarding arbitrary discrimination.
No matter what the law says, you do need to keep in mind that getting into a legal battle with an attorney, particularly one who is not busy with other cases, can be very expensive and time-consuming even if you eventually win. You would certainly want to be represented by competent legal counsel for such a matter.
The bottom line is that I would not put myself in the position of discriminating against an attorney applicant who otherwise meets your qualifying criteria without consulting a competent attorney that is experienced regarding landlord-tenant law in the jurisdiction of your duplex.
If you do not accept an applicant due to results of screening by third-party screening service providers (e.g., credit reports) you are required by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to give them an “adverse action” report that provides certain information regarding the screening service. In theory, absent any different state or local law, you would not have to provide such a report if you are rejecting an applicant because he/she is an attorney and did so without performing screening on the applicant. However, you need to determine whether or not your state or local government has any different laws that require different reporting than does the federal FCRA.