Will not rent too many people

Question

I have rental units in PA.

I saw 3BR unit for Rent for $1,400 and I own the 3BR unit in the same neighborhood and rented for $1,300.

I called the agent to find out more about the property to compare with my rental unit.

Very first question agent asked me how many people will be living I said 5.

He said sorry too many people we can't rent. I said I have 2 boys and a girl.

He didn't listen to me and said sorry, sorry we do not rent! Too many people! Bye!

Nathan Gesner · Answer

The agent is in violation of Fair Housing. They may be able to limit occupancy based on square footage or the number if beds/baths but even then they should allow for two people per bedroom or  six total, paticularly when three if them are children.

If I heard that I would be filing a complaint.

Frank Chin · Answer

Talking about ethnicity, the six people I just rented the house to is Iranian, refugees who arrived in the country about eight years ago.

As to selecting tenants, I merely talk to them in terms of income, credit score, number of years on the job. My concerns I keep to myself. And because I usually have a mob scene at my open houses, most would feel their chances are not great due to the number of applicants.

My dad, being an absentee landlord, was too accommodating, got into trouble with the neighbors and the city housing department. Rented a 8 room apartment to a Vietnamese family. Then was told they have family visiting, and my dad said OK. Then six months later, got complaints from all the neighbors that there's far more than 5 people living there. When the building department contacted him, he went down the check it out, found 10 bunk beds in the place for at least 20 people.

Guess he didn't violate HUD fair housing regulations, but violated city building codes for over crowding.

Sai T. · Answer

@Marcia Maynard

I sent PM

Jeff B. · Answer

Should have tagged @Frank Chin, sorry

Frank Chin · Answer

I am very nervous starting out with five or six people. In this case, I feel better that it's 3 children. That's why now I rent out places, slightly below market, where I have a wide selection of applicants, giving preference to 2 or 3 people. That's why I prefer to hold open houses, rather than have qualify people one at a time. Funny, I feel nervous about renting a SFH to a single person, and I had such inquiries, and they are upset they're discriminated against. I read of cases where a single person would rent a SFH to deal drugs. In my case, I actually rented to a crooked cop, who got arrested where he used it as headquarters with other crooked cops to do dirty deals.

Ironically, I just rented a SFH to 6 adults, two of them grown daughters, who will be married this coming year, bringing the total number to four. They seem to be a group of nice hard working adults.

In the past, I did have problems with South Asians, that's people from India and Pakistan. It's a cultural thing. They think it's quite normal for their relatives to come over and spend months visiting. That's why for South Asians, I'm very nervous to start them off with 5 or 6 people. Once I rented to an Indian couple, and within 2 months of moving in, had their in-laws visiting. The visit dragged on for 8 plus months till they inadvertently informed me the father in law was on workman's comp. So in this 3 family rental, once I got more than a total of 6 people in the building I get complaints about no hot water when people take showers all at once in the morning. I told the other tenants that there's temporary visitors. When I found out they are not temporary, when the father in law was injured at work, I let it be known maybe it's time for them to leave.

So, my take from this Indian couple rental is if I started off with 5 people, which is beyond the hot water capacity of the building to begin with, add some visitors which is a cultural thing for them, I'll have a mess on my hands.

Sai T. · Answer

@Jeff B.

What did I do?

Jeff B. · Answer

Yes you have some concerns, but by framing this topic in terms of ethnicity, you are already violating HUD Fair Housing Regulations.  You are headed for a BIG and costly mistake.

Marcia Maynard · Answer

If the bedrooms of are of average size or bigger, then should be able to accommodate 6 people. Or by HUD standards, 7.  But also need to take into account how much use the plumbing system can handle. How many bathrooms? Could be the agent is discriminating based on familial status, which is illegal to do. Wonder about his rental criteria. Do you have a link to that property?