Can I rent only to specific people?
Let me clarify...I'm not talking about age, race, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, or marital status. I work at a tourist attraction and environmental organization in FL which happens to be located right smack dab in the middle of a residential area of the city. I mean it's got neighborhoods on all 4 sides of it for about a 5 min drive in any direction.
I live in one of the neighborhoods and for the last few years had been renting out my detached inlaw suite to coworkers and friends (that's how I first got into rental property). Now I've moved out (because of a random conversation with a coworker and her fiance who were looking for a place) and have been renting my former primary residence to them for the last 2 years, with plans to renovate the inlaw suite and rent that out again also.
In the years I've been working here, I've heard from coworkers and neighbors about the high demand of the employees to live close to work (which also happens to be less than 10 min out from the university, as many of them are college/grad/doctoral students). I actually have a waiting list of folks who contact me every once in a while to see if I have anything available.
For personal reasons, I want to invest in this neighborhood. I also would like to only rent to employees and their families/roommates. I would also love to have properties specifically to rent out seasonally to the many interns my workplace hires. At least in this area, I would like to have a personal connection to my tenants to ease me into the world of rental properties and not feel the need to have a management company.
I only have the 1 rental property so far, and I've never had to market it. Ever since I bought the property 6 years ago, I've pretty much always had someone renting the house or the studio apartment (and many of them asked to live there...I don't really recall offering). Now I'm looking into purchasing my first additional property in the area. Rental property is rare here as it is 100% developed, mostly homeowners, and many folks here are long-time residents (25 years and up!). Any nearby apartment complexes are in iffy neighborhoods, apartments on the other side, near downtown are too expensive, and the closest, cheapest, safest apartments and houses are closer to the University which isn't far, but crosses some busy roads and interstates which makes the drive much longer and stressful; and that's the reason why there's such a demand for the employees who want to rent nearby but don't have options.
Anyway, like I said, I don't think I'd have to do any marketing past the break room, a couple of emails, or word of mouth. But my concern is if a co-worker approaches me to ask if a friend or relative can rent, could I be accused of breaking some sort of discrimination law if I insist that I prefer only to rent to employees/ interns of the organization?