Is This Legal? (section 8, rental homes, sex offender)

[LadyRo]

I was looking at rental homes on CL and saw an ad that said "Section 8 only". Can the owner do that? I know there are a few exceptions to the housing discrimination law as it pertains to advertising a rental, but is this restriction a covered exclusion?

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by LadyRo

I was looking at rental homes on CL and saw an ad that said "Section 8 only". Can the owner do that? I know there are a few exceptions to the housing discrimination law as it pertains to advertising a rental, but is this restriction a covered exclusion?

I bet he can say that in the ad, but whether or not he can actually deny someone merely because of that criterion is another question.

[AnsleyPark]

You can rent your home to whomever you want and not rent it to whomever you don't want.

[sjuraud]

The homeowner will just find another way to exclude whomever they don't want anyhow. Usually it's the other way around though with regards to Section 8. You'll find more homeowners that don't want to rent to them rather than wanted to rent only to them.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

You can rent your home to whomever you want and not rent it to whomever you don't want.

This is not true.

Fair Housing Laws and Presidential Executive Orders - HUD

[plessthanpointohfive]

Originally Posted by JPD

This is not true.

Fair Housing Laws and Presidential Executive Orders - HUD

Yes it is. You just can't SAY you won't rent it to people based on certain things specifically outlawed.

All you have to do is find some other criteria, like something in their background check regarding crime or finances, that support a claim that then applicant won't be able to meet the terms of the lease (or something along those lines).

Now, I am not saying this as a landlord who has made a point to exclude a certain demographic. I say this as a landlord who just wants to make sure she rents out her rental to someone who can pay the rent and gets applicants to agree to background check for financial history, current income, and whether or not the person is a sex offender.

That being said, nobody can tell you how much you can charge in rent (at least not for small timers, maybe in large complexes, though).

[JPD]

Originally Posted by plessthanpointohfive

Yes it is. You just can't SAY you won't rent it to people based on certain things specifically outlawed.

If someone challenges you on this, and you say "Hey, it's my house, I can rent to whoever I want," you might be in for a big surprise.

[plessthanpointohfive]

Originally Posted by JPD

If someone challenges you on this, and you say "Hey, it's my house, I can rent to whoever I want," you might be in for a big surprise.

Look, all I am saying is that I am a landlord and I KNOW that landlords discriminate and get away with it. It happens all the time. Even I do it. I only take tenants who can afford $1250/mo in rent, have good rental referrals, and have not committed a sex offense. It's legal. That I can command $1250/mo in rent for my rental does help insure a higher quality of tenancy. Until the law tells me I must drop my rent so that people of lower income can afford it then it will remain as such.

And I don't have anything against poor people. I just know I can make $1250/mo off that rental and I bought it so it could bring me income.

As a landlord I've developed a network with other landlords and I know that discrimination of illegal kinds happens. They just keep it right below the radar and so long as the applicant can't outright prove it then they're good.

Any landlord who gives a reason as "It's my house, I can rent to whoever I want." is opening themselves up for closer investigation. Though, that statement by itself proves nothing.

By the way, I am not defending this practice, etc. I am just speaking about the reality of what landlords actually do and get away with.

[plessthanpointohfive]

However, if the ad states qualifications that are explicitly illegal then an applicant only has to bring that with his/her rejected application to the housing authority and prove that he/she fits the description from the ad.

The sad reality is, most people read an ad like that and move on to the next ad because it's just too much trouble or it portends too much trouble.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by plessthanpointohfive

Look, all I am saying is that I am a landlord and I KNOW that landlords discriminate and get away with it. It happens all the time. Even I do it. I only take tenants who can afford $1250/mo in rent, have good rental referrals, and have not committed a sex offense. It's legal. That I can command $1250/mo in rent for my rental does help insure a higher quality of tenancy. Until the law tells me I must drop my rent so that people of lower income can afford it then it will remain as such.

And I don't have anything against poor people. I just know I can make $1250/mo off that rental and I bought it so it could bring me income.

As a landlord I've developed a network with other landlords and I know that discrimination of illegal kinds happens. They just keep it right below the radar and so long as the applicant can't outright prove it then they're good.

Any landlord who gives a reason as "It's my house, I can rent to whoever I want." is opening themselves up for closer investigation. Though, that statement by itself proves nothing.

By the way, I am not defending this practice, etc. I am just speaking about the reality of what landlords actually do and get away with.

I wasn't really talking about economic issues. I was talking about race/gender/disability, and that type of thing.

I realize this thread is about Section 8, which is an economic issue. I was just taking issue with the original sentence which I quoted earlier.