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Old 03-26-2016, 06:19 PM
 
2 posts, read 16,761 times
Reputation: 10

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I am currently an undergraduate student trying to rent a place with my friends for the first time. I have contacted many places and have been told by both business and private homeowners that they are not renting to any undergraduate students. I understand that private homeowners should have the right to rent to whoever he or she wants to, so I am ok with being rejected by them.

However, it is very disappointing to be rejected by the perfect home I was looking for, in this case, a community that belongs National Development in New England. After I arrived at the community for a scheduled viewing, I was told that they do not allow undergraduate students as a tenant in any form. I tried to negotiate with them by suggesting can I have my father become one of the tenants and having him providing the income documents, since he is the person that is paying for my rent after all. The result I got is that under no circumstance they will allow any undergraduate students to live in there. So I had to give up.

But this has really got me confused. My friend and I are rejected solely because we are undergraduate students. They rejected us without any background check, but a question asking whether we are undergraduate students. We did not even get to the see unit we planned on viewing. I am not mad at the company but just confused . About background information on myself, I am an international student at a university in Boston. I am aware the irresponsible and dirty image undergraduate students has. However, I can assure you that I have never contributed to such image. We are looking for a quite place with nice privacy, and I had absolutely no plan for any parties. One of the homeowners made an exception to accept us to rent there because he liked the mature and responsible impression we have left him.

How does this work? Do companies have the right to exclude any group of people by their own preference? Does it mean that if I am a college drop out, despite having the same age, I will be able to rent the place as long as I have income that fits their requirement? Wouldn't a person as such pose a high chance at breaking community rules or damaging the house? Is this a form of discrimination or it is just a common thing in the rental game we have to accept?

Thank you so much for any help.
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Old 03-26-2016, 08:03 PM
 
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
10,297 posts, read 7,882,664 times
Reputation: 27606
Quote:
Originally Posted by roclg1031 View Post
I am aware the irresponsible and dirty image undergraduate students has. However, I can assure you that I have never contributed to such image. We are looking for a quite place with nice privacy, and I had absolutely no plan for any parties.
That's great. Unfortunately, many if not most undergraduates are not like you. And would-be landlords have no way to confirm that you're the exception to the rule.

Quote:
Do companies have the right to exclude any group of people by their own preference?
A landlord may not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, religion, or (in many areas) sexual orientation. A landlord also cannot discriminate against families with children unless the rental is in a 55+ retirement community specifically intended for seniors. "College undergraduate," however, is not a protected category. It's therefore perfectly legal to decline to rent to a person because he or she is an undergraduate (just as it's perfectly legal to refuse to rent to pet owners, or to people with poor credit).
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Old 03-26-2016, 08:31 PM
 
33,016 posts, read 27,307,516 times
Reputation: 9074
Students generally are not a protected class, but there might be a few college towns where students do have protection from discrimination in renting.
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Old 03-27-2016, 05:42 AM
 
9,863 posts, read 13,987,540 times
Reputation: 21673
Technically, they are not renting to you because you can't pay for the place yourself. They are choosing not to rent to those with co-signers. If you had the income to qualify, you wouln't need to even mention your education status.
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Old 03-27-2016, 05:58 AM
 
105,698 posts, read 107,682,511 times
Reputation: 79329
Quote:
Originally Posted by roclg1031 View Post
I am currently an undergraduate student trying to rent a place with my friends for the first time. I have contacted many places and have been told by both business and private homeowners that they are not renting to any undergraduate students. I understand that private homeowners should have the right to rent to whoever he or she wants to, so I am ok with being rejected by them.

However, it is very disappointing to be rejected by the perfect home I was looking for, in this case, a community that belongs National Development in New England. After I arrived at the community for a scheduled viewing, I was told that they do not allow undergraduate students as a tenant in any form. I tried to negotiate with them by suggesting can I have my father become one of the tenants and having him providing the income documents, since he is the person that is paying for my rent after all. The result I got is that under no circumstance they will allow any undergraduate students to live in there. So I had to give up.

But this has really got me confused. My friend and I are rejected solely because we are undergraduate students. They rejected us without any background check, but a question asking whether we are undergraduate students. We did not even get to the see unit we planned on viewing. I am not mad at the company but just confused . About background information on myself, I am an international student at a university in Boston. I am aware the irresponsible and dirty image undergraduate students has. However, I can assure you that I have never contributed to such image. We are looking for a quite place with nice privacy, and I had absolutely no plan for any parties. One of the homeowners made an exception to accept us to rent there because he liked the mature and responsible impression we have left him.

How does this work? Do companies have the right to exclude any group of people by their own preference? Does it mean that if I am a college drop out, despite having the same age, I will be able to rent the place as long as I have income that fits their requirement? Wouldn't a person as such pose a high chance at breaking community rules or damaging the house? Is this a form of discrimination or it is just a common thing in the rental game we have to accept?

Thank you so much for any help.
what is important to a landlord is your ability to pay and a history that shows a willingness to pay .

if you don't have both you can be out of luck .
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Old 03-27-2016, 09:06 AM
 
1,399 posts, read 1,782,314 times
Reputation: 3256
When I was an undergraduate, we lived in the student Ghetto. The only landlords who would rent to the undergrads were the slumlords. In hindsight I can see why. Now once you hit the graduate level then the choices became much nicer.
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Old 03-27-2016, 11:12 AM
 
Location: North Idaho
32,491 posts, read 47,436,183 times
Reputation: 77719
Undergraduates are not a protected class, so yes, it is perfectly legal to have a policy of not renting to undergraduate students.
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Old 03-27-2016, 01:55 PM
 
2 posts, read 16,761 times
Reputation: 10
Thank you for the responses!

I understand many landlords have concerns about our ability to pay as undergraduate students. But in this case, our parents are fully responsible for all the payments, since we do not have income yet. I understand that some landlords require each of their tenants to have incomes two or three times of the monthly rent. But their representative has told us that their rule forbids any undergraduate students from becoming a signatory. So in that case, if there is a family with both parents and a kid who is an undergrad in college, they won't be able to rent the apartment. That just feels unnecessarily strict to me.
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Old 03-27-2016, 01:59 PM
 
Location: Texas
44,257 posts, read 64,062,141 times
Reputation: 73913
You're kidding, right?

Have you seen how college students trash everything?

I'm not saying YOU do or that there aren't some very nice college students who take care of things nicely, but come on.

Noise complaints, destruction, illegal activities like underage drinking...par for the course.

I wouldn't rent to 'em, either.
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Old 03-28-2016, 01:56 AM
 
Location: Kansas City North
6,771 posts, read 11,402,042 times
Reputation: 16917
They can say they don't rent to people with green cars. If it's not a protected class, they can do what they want.

But I do wonder what they would say if a 40 year old going back to school was trying to rent.
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