Can parents and a toddler live in a one bedroom apartment (Boston: apartment complex, rental)

[nancycy]

I am recently researching for apartment, and have found some pretty large one bedroom apartments (> 800 sqft). However, I was told by the landlord that I had to rent a two bedroom for me, my husband and my toddler. This sounds very unreasonable, since the apartment is big enough for three of us and my son sleeps in our bedroom anyway.
Has any of you had the similar experience?

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by nancycy

I am recently researching for apartment, and have found some pretty large one bedroom apartments (> 800 sqft). However, I was told by the landlord that I had to rent a two bedroom for me, my husband and my toddler. This sounds very unreasonable, since the apartment is big enough for three of us and my son sleeps in our bedroom anyway.
Has any of you had the similar experience?

This doesn't sound right to me. I think it is the square footage that matters more than the number of bedrooms.

[kingeorge]

What size unit is appropriate for my household?

The BHA is required to follow certain occupancy standards that limit the number of residents according to the number of bedrooms. The following is a basic guide (exceptions follow):

family size/ eligible for:
1 person/ 0-1 BR
2 people/ 1-2 BR
3 people/ 2-3 BR
4 people/ 2-4 BR
5 people/ 3-5 BR
6 people/ 3-6 BR
7-8 people/ 4-6 BR
9-12 people/ 5-6 BR

This copied from Boston Housing Authority, maybe it helps someone. However this might not apply equally everywhere and perhaps best course of action is to check with the Town Hall and see if any local ordinances.
Hope it helps.

[resilience57]

As a former rental agent, I can tell you that landlords will use almost any excuse to turn down families with children under the age of six. The reason is that the Massachusetts Lead Law requires landlords to delead apartments that were built before 1978 if a child under the age of six is living there. The cost of such a procedure can be anywhere from a few thousand dollars to 30 or more thousand dollars, and the landlord is responsible for not only fronting the entire cost but also putting up the tenants during the process.

Over 80% of the rental housing stock in Boston/Cambridge core area is not deleaded so this is a pervasive problem. It is illegal for a landlord to reject you because you have a small child, but you will notice that lots of landlords will give excuses to reject your application that side step directly saying this is the reason they are rejecting you.

It is not illegal, for example, to say that you will only allow two people in your apartment instead of three. This is one of the most common excuses landlords give to discourage families from applying without technically breaking the law.

I suspect that regardless of what you say to this landlord, it is going to be an uphill battle. If they let on that there is any reason besides the number of people that they don't want you living there, you may have legal recourse. Most landlords are savvy enough to know, though, that they need to word things very carefully.

The easiest thing to do is to focus your search on newer buildings and apartments advertised as deleaded.

[zheena214]

I am having the same dilemma, I am renting this apartment for two years with my then infant son and husband, now that I am about to renew my lease the manager of the apartment complex is telling me to move to a two bedroom, is that legal?I need help pls.

[yaeger07]

"(A) Every dwelling unit shall contain at least 150 square feet of floor space for its first
occupant, and at least 100 square feet of floor space for each additional occupant, the floor space
to be calculated on the basis of total habitable room area.
(B) In a dwelling unit, every room occupied for sleeping purposes by one occupant shall contain
at least 70 square feet of floor space; every room occupied for sleeping purposes by more than
one occupant shall contain at least 50 square feet of floor space for each occupant.
(C) In a rooming unit, every room occupied for sleeping purposes by one occupant shall contain
at least 80 square feet of floor space; every room occupied for sleeping purposes by more than
one occupant shall contain at least 60 square feet for each occupant"

Also, "in general, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development says that it’s okay to limit occupancy to two people per bedroom. Thus, a family of four could live in a two-bedroom apartment, but not in a one-bedroom apartment.

However, many cities and towns have different rules, and some require landlords to allow “two plus one” occupancy. That means two people per bedroom, plus one extra person in the unit. This is more common in areas where apartments typically have large rooms, or extra rooms such as a den."

Apartments in Boston don't typically have large rooms so I'd be surprised if that's a rule here.

So basically, you absolutely have to have 350 square feet in your apt and the bedroom would have to be 170 sq feet.