Issues renting single-family home for unmarried couple? (Colorado Springs, Boulder: rental, landlords)

[bethzilla]

My partner and I are relocating to the Springs in the upcoming month. I have secured a job in the area while he does consulting work and runs his own business.

We have lived together for three years and will continue to do so once we move. We're pretty young and have vague plans to get married sometime in the future, but have no definite timeline to do so yet.

I am worried that since the Springs has a lot of people who are conservative religiously and socially, that it might be difficult for us to rent a single family home or that we will be rejected on the basis of being an unmarried couple. Is this a legitimate concern, or am I freaking out about nothing?

[allprolab]

I don't expect you would have any more difficulty finding a rental here than in any other city as an unmarried couple. Sure there might be someone who wouldn't rent to you because of that, but I seriously doubt it will actually be a problem.

Before you actually move here, please leave the idea that this city is completely conservative behind. It simply is not.

[bethzilla]

Originally Posted by allprolab

I don't expect you would have any more difficulty finding a rental here than in any other city as an unmarried couple. Sure there might be someone who wouldn't rent to you because of that, but I seriously doubt it will actually be a problem.

Before you actually move here, please leave the idea that this city is completely conservative behind. It simply is not.

Thanks for your input! I lived there for two summers during internships and admit that I had no personal experiences or issues with people being too conservative. Just whenever I read any forums about the Springs there's always that person who complains about the political climate and makes me wonder if I missed something.

[mooksmom]

Originally Posted by bethzilla

My partner and I are relocating to the Springs in the upcoming month. I have secured a job in the area while he does consulting work and runs his own business.

We have lived together for three years and will continue to do so once we move. We're pretty young and have vague plans to get married sometime in the future, but have no definite timeline to do so yet.

I am worried that since the Springs has a lot of people who are conservative religiously and socially, that it might be difficult for us to rent a single family home or that we will be rejected on the basis of being an unmarried couple. Is this a legitimate concern, or am I freaking out about nothing?

MUCH adoo about NOTHING...NOBODY needs to know nor gives a hoot about your marital status, but YOU.

[bethzilla]

Thanks mooksmom! I guess if they did care so much about my personal life I wouldn't want them as a landlord anyway, eh?

[lurtsman]

The only issue you will have is having your partner prove his income. If you have significant savings or he has detailed tax records you'll be just fine. Very few landlords will care about marital status so long as you both sign on the dotted line and have proved there is sufficient income or savings to pay the rent. If you pay rent and don't trash the place, the landlords will like you.

[bethzilla]

Originally Posted by lurtsman

The only issue you will have is having your partner prove his income. If you have significant savings or he has detailed tax records you'll be just fine. Very few landlords will care about marital status so long as you both sign on the dotted line and have proved there is sufficient income or savings to pay the rent. If you pay rent and don't trash the place, the landlords will like you.

Since his income is variable, we're planning on renting something we could afford on just my income, even well below the line of 1/4 my yearly income. Our landlord is offering us an excellent reference as well, so we should be good!

[Littlekw]

The only place I've ever lived that cares about your marital status was southern Utah. Colorado Springs in NOT anything like that. I have gay couples as neighbors and plenty of unmarried couples as friends that have never had an issue. Now, when I tried to rent in Utah I was denied because I had female roommates in the past that I wasn't married to...

Colorado Springs runs conservative but it's not what defines the town. Most people that complain about it are complaining from somewhere else and are basing their notions off of steroetypes and the way a lot of the media portrays the Springs. Ted Haggard, New Life Church, Focus on the Family and picketers in front of Planned Parenthood make for better news stories than the reality of which is a city full of people doing their own thing and living their lives. There is a good mix of political and social views in the Springs. More so than Boulder which runs liberal at a much higher percentage than Colorado Springs does conservative.

[bethzilla]

Originally Posted by Littlekw

The only place I've ever lived that cares about your marital status was southern Utah. Colorado Springs in NOT anything like that. I have gay couples as neighbors and plenty of unmarried couples as friends that have never had an issue. Now, when I tried to rent in Utah I was denied because I had female roommates in the past that I wasn't married to...

Colorado Springs runs conservative but it's not what defines the town. Most people that complain about it are complaining from somewhere else and are basing their notions off of steroetypes and the way a lot of the media portrays the Springs. Ted Haggard, New Life Church, Focus on the Family and picketers in front of Planned Parenthood make for better news stories than the reality of which is a city full of people doing their own thing and living their lives. There is a good mix of political and social views in the Springs. More so than Boulder which runs liberal at a much higher percentage than Colorado Springs does conservative.

Wow, that's ridiculous that they would deny you based on who you had lived with in the past. Note to self: don't go to Utah.

[shanen]

The only overly-conservative things you'll notice here are in the way the government is run.

Fix pothole ridden holes? Naw.
Upkeep parks and trails? Naw.
Keep sprawl under control to avoid future problems? Naw.

Root cause is our property taxes are some of the lowest in the country for a city our size. Try to increase taxes at your own risk. I've normally skewed to the conservative side. This city is too conservative that I vote liberal just to balance it out (extreme either way is never good IMO).