Gay renters to get some discrimination protection

When it comes to negotiating a lease or paying fair rent, gay and transgender renters may soon get more protection.

[Gay Mom]

Do I see another glimmer on the horizon? Maybe someday it will not be legal to regect the poor and gay. How about the middle class and gay? How about gay college kids? Let's keep it going.

[lndychick]

As Lesbians who prefers to rent, my partner and I have never had any trouble renting and we're always upfront about who we are. I think people are beginning to prefer Gay and Lesbian renters as we are usually: clean, quiet, drama free, and interested in upkeep.

Still if it takes a law to beat some sense into people then it's a great thing.

[Gay Mom]

Roxanne A wrote:

<quoted text>
And you would be sued. And you would lose.

Unfortunately, most places he would be within his rights to do so. Here in Michigan there are just a few cities that cover renter discrimination.

[Curteese]

Uh, oh! Listen to screams of those who are petrified of losing their god given rights of discrimination and hate! "but, you mean I cannot turn down gay renters! wahh!"
I got news for them. I own renters and PREFER gay tenants. They usually leave the place WAY better than it was when I handed over the keys. Just yesterday I helped one of my tenants put in a new sliding door. He did all the major destruction and framing and today is doing the finish work. All I did was pay for the door.
Would I really prefer a fat mom and her messy brood who cry and moan at a light bulb burning out? Nope.

[Curteese]

I own RENTALS, not renters. Just want to clear up I am not a slave owner!

[Roxanne A]

Gay Mom wrote:

<quoted text>
Unfortunately, most places he would be within his rights to do so. Here in Michigan there are just a few cities that cover renter discrimination.

Yes, that is unfortunate!

[RnL_4EVR_MARRIED]

Curteese wrote:

I own RENTALS, not renters. Just want to clear up I am not a slave owner!

Glad to hear that......people might really get bent out of shape.....lol:)

You are truly a wonderful person. As a renter now.....my landlords love the fact that we take good care of their home and want to make improvements to it.

Have a great day:)

[DNF]

In most areas that have laws protecting GLBT people in renting, the laws apply to commercial properties like apartments and hotels or motels.

In most cases, if someone is renting out a room in their own residence, then anti-discrimination laws generally don't apply.

Often, the anti-gay industry uses misinformation about this to defeat non discrimination laws. With all that has happened in the last year or two, with marriage laws, referendums, ballot initiatives, etc. it is extremely important that we all make an effort to educate the public on the facts. I think one reason that the recent Hate Crimes bill passed and was signed into law was because we were able to re-assure the religious right that their ministers were not in danger of preaching against us; that the "thought police" is a myth. I feel it was even a good idea to include language in the bills that re-asserted the rights of free speech.

As long as people like Pat Robertson and Maggie Gallagher use the "threat to religious freedom" card, we must do the same. We need to point out that their religious ideas & beliefs are in no danger and that in fact they are threatening the religious freedom of others.

[Rick in Kansas]

Unfortunately, this story represents merely a very small glimmer of a very small hope. This is merely a study to see if such a problem exists and only in terms of PUBLIC HOUSING, not in the private sector. As a landlord here in Kansas, I currently have the rather dubious right to freely discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and to tell rejected tenants that right to their face without a fear of legal sanction. What is really needed here is an amendment to the Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity to once and for all end or at least give a very real reason to discourage discrimination in any for of public accommodation. There has been one proposed, but thus far hasn't gained any traction with Congress.

Just in case you were wondering, simply because I have the right to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, doesn't mean that it is a right that I have or ever would exercise.

[budinca]

California has had a law banning sexual orientation discrimination in rental housing for years. It works okay, except for some discreet discrimination, especially from smaller landlords. Discreet discrimination is hard to prove.

Fortunately, none of these anti-discrimination laws apply to roommates or to shared living area situations. As a gay man, I would not like living with a straight person who is anti-gay. Unfortunately, a person isn't allowed to put his roommate preferences in ads for roommates. I cannot say "gay only" in an ad looking for a roommate. Straights cannot put "no gays" in their ads. This leads to awkward and embarrassing situations.

A gay friend saw an ad to share an apartment. It seemed perfect for him. He went to see the apt and met the roommates. He was having a friendly conversation with the potential roommates when he mentioned he was gay. He was very rudely humiliated and chased away. I can never understand why people are allowed to discriminate against anybody, for any reason, in roommate situations; but aren't allowed to put their roommate preferences, likes and dislikes, in roommate ads.

[Short Left Index Finger]

My landlord has had to spend 8 hours.Yes,8 hours,cleaning up the meass former straight tennants have left behind.

[Rick in Kansas]

Short Left Index Finger wrote:

My landlord has had to spend 8 hours.Yes,8 hours,cleaning up the meass former straight tennants have left behind.

8 hours? That's rookie league. I'm a member of a local landlords group and we get together about once a month for lunch and to swap tenant horror stories and I've seen pictures of tenant induced hell holes that have taken industrial cleaning crews weeks to clean up.

[RalphB]

Rick in Kansas wrote:

Unfortunately, this story represents merely a very small glimmer of a very small hope. This is merely a study to see if such a problem exists and only in terms of PUBLIC HOUSING, not in the private sector. As a landlord here in Kansas, I currently have the rather dubious right to freely discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and to tell rejected tenants that right to their face without a fear of legal sanction. What is really needed here is an amendment to the Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity to once and for all end or at least give a very real reason to discourage discrimination in any for of public accommodation. There has been one proposed, but thus far hasn't gained any traction with Congress.
Just in case you were wondering, simply because I have the right to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, doesn't mean that it is a right that I have or ever would exercise.

My spouse and I also own rental property. We perfer to rent only to gays who are recommended by other gays we know. However, we also would rather rent to gays in their 30's and above. Our experience with younger people, both gay and straight, are that they are not as concerned about the appearence of the property as older people are. We run very detailed credit checks, and background checks on our tenants, as the rental units are in very good areas, and demand high rent. We don't really care if they are gay or straight, but we would rather have gays over straights any day. Also, the units are small, with only 1 bedroom, so we usually don't have to worry about children, although we would never deny a rental to someone with a baby or small child. In our experience though, couples usually want at least 2 bedrooms.

[Just H3r3]

Short Left Index Finger wrote:

My landlord has had to spend 8 hours.Yes,8 hours,cleaning up the meass former straight tennants have left behind.

LoL... Sorry but the stereotypes that straights are not as well kept as gay men are quiet wrong. I think its just their personal preference to live like that disregarding sex, race, class, or sexual orientation. My ex-roommates, both gay men, were one of the most dirtiest people I ever want to live with. I got the smaller room with the bigger bathroom. My room and bathroom was extremely well-kept whereas their side grosses any of our social guests. One of my roommates definition of cleaning up the living room is moving the Sh!t there to the kitchen (my domain). Yuck!

[Rick in Kansas]

RalphB wrote:

<quoted text>
My spouse and I also own rental property. We perfer to rent only to gays who are recommended by other gays we know. However, we also would rather rent to gays in their 30's and above. Our experience with younger people, both gay and straight, are that they are not as concerned about the appearence of the property as older people are. We run very detailed credit checks, and background checks on our tenants, as the rental units are in very good areas, and demand high rent. We don't really care if they are gay or straight, but we would rather have gays over straights any day. Also, the units are small, with only 1 bedroom, so we usually don't have to worry about children, although we would never deny a rental to someone with a baby or small child. In our experience though, couples usually want at least 2 bedrooms.

I was a long distance landlord for the better part of a decade before I moved back to Salina, so I learned the value of a thorough credit and background check years ago, but even among the winners you can still come up with a real loser every now and again unfortunately. With Salina being a small city and my rental units being everything from one bedroom duplexes to multi-bedroom houses, I can only be so selective (especially considering some units were section 8 qualified when I bought them). I've gotten off lucky (knock on wood) compared to most of the landlords I know here in town when it comes to tenants. I can count the number of tenants who I've had to evict over the years on one hand and the worst I ever had to deal with in terms of a disaster was a college kid who thought it was a bright idea to cook up a batch of meth in his laundry room.

[RalphB]

Rick in Kansas wrote:

<quoted text>I was a long distance landlord for the better part of a decade before I moved back to Salina, so I learned the value of a thorough credit and background check years ago, but even among the winners you can still come up with a real loser every now and again unfortunately. With Salina being a small city and my rental units being everything from one bedroom duplexes to multi-bedroom houses, I can only be so selective (especially considering some units were section 8 qualified when I bought them). I've gotten off lucky (knock on wood) compared to most of the landlords I know here in town when it comes to tenants. I can count the number of tenants who I've had to evict over the years on one hand and the worst I ever had to deal with in terms of a disaster was a college kid who thought it was a bright idea to cook up a batch of meth in his laundry room.

Some years back I purchased some single-family dwellings that the owners had defaulted on. I fixed them up to code, and re-sold them. I had considered renting them out, but looking at the condition of the neighborhood, I went for a sale.

As to our rentals, we have only once had a problem, such as you describe. It was two straight men in their early 20's. That unit had 2 bedrooms, but like our others, demanded high rent. What we did not consider, was that the father of one was the actual rentor, and paid the rent if the boys could not. That part was fine, but it also did not give the boys a feeling of "investment". Obviously, that situation will never again have a chance to happen. And I also must say that this sterotype of all gays being reliable with caring for property is just that, a sterotype.

[Rick in Kansas]

RalphB wrote:

<quoted text>
Some years back I purchased some single-family dwellings that the owners had defaulted on. I fixed them up to code, and re-sold them. I had considered renting them out, but looking at the condition of the neighborhood, I went for a sale.
As to our rentals, we have only once had a problem, such as you describe. It was two straight men in their early 20's. That unit had 2 bedrooms, but like our others, demanded high rent. What we did not consider, was that the father of one was the actual rentor, and paid the rent if the boys could not. That part was fine, but it also did not give the boys a feeling of "investment". Obviously, that situation will never again have a chance to happen. And I also must say that this sterotype of all gays being reliable with caring for property is just that, a sterotype.

Salina's housing market has always been such that makes such short term flips far less profitable than holding onto a property for at least a few years. While there are a few neighborhoods which are less than desirable in terms of proximity to schools, shopping, life as we know it, there really isn't anywhere in town where you can call it a bad neighborhood for longer term investment. The advantage I have out here is property values here are probably at most a third of what they are in your area and the disparity was probably even greater when I started buying.

[RalphB]

Rick in Kansas wrote:

<quoted text>Salina's housing market has always been such that makes such short term flips far less profitable than holding onto a property for at least a few years. While there are a few neighborhoods which are less than desirable in terms of proximity to schools, shopping, life as we know it, there really isn't anywhere in town where you can call it a bad neighborhood for longer term investment. The advantage I have out here is property values here are probably at most a third of what they are in your area and the disparity was probably even greater when I started buying.

There is some value in holding a property here for a longer period, also. However, I was in a tax situation where I could fix the property up and flip it, and still make a good profit, after taxes. I could have made more by holding and renting, but considering the neighborhood, it did not seem worthwhile.

Good luck with your future rental property. Thankfully, I am out of it now.

[Curteese]

Short Left Index Finger wrote:

My landlord has had to spend 8 hours.Yes,8 hours,cleaning up the meass former straight tennants have left behind.

My dad was a landlord and so am I and I have literally had to drag the garden hose inside to spray down the filthy walls. Straight married couple, of course.

[Short Left Index Finger]

People please,put everything back where you got it.Do your laundry,sweep the floors,vacuum the rug,make your bed,and get a haircut.