Do I have to rent to him / her?

Do I have to rent to him / her?

As a lawyer, I represent organizations that manage properties and I offer legal advice to apartment managers. Periodically, I have conversations with my clients that happen as follows:

Do I have to rent to him?2 bhk apartments in trichy 2 bhk Flats for sale in trichy

Admin: This guy came this morning and I asked him to lease apartment. He looked ordinary and I had a bad feeling about him. Do I have to lease it?

Me: Why did a bad?

Admin: he has called every two hours to see if your application was approved. Then he puts me on call waiting every time I call him, as it has many incoming calls. The I cried when I said I could not process your application without a copy of your driver's license. He has asked to see the same two apartments every day for a week. He told my assistant that my team was incompetent because he could not say how many cubic inches was the refrigerator. He wants to see the resumes of all equipment maintenance. Once he did mourn one of my agents. This man is vulgar and rude.

Me: Did you complete the application?

Manager: Yes. It has a good credit history, no criminal history and has sufficient income. Verify all information in the application. He is qualified to be a tenant here.

Me: Do you have a written document, which shows the requirements for admission?

Admin: Yes, and meets all the requirements, but I cannot imagine having to see him during the following year. Do I have to rent?

Me: No.

Manager: No? Would not it be discrimination? I am not obligated to treat everyone the same way?

Me: not necessarily. At least that reason not rent to this person not related to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status or disability (protected class), you are not required to rent.

Admin: If he was in the protected class would I be forced to rent anyway?

Me: No. You are not required to rent to people simply because they are in the category of protected class. If your decision to deny the application does not have anything to do with race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status or disability. You may deny the application for a different reason. For example, the person making the request may be within the protected class, but if he refuses to completely fill out the application, you can refuse to rent to you because of this. Everything is ok as long as you keep equality as if it had been a person not protected. However, it is important that you document in your file the reasons why you have been denied a request, if I had to defend that decision in the future.

Manager: Does this mean I can have a policy of not admitting rude people?

Me: Yes. As you may have a policy of not allowing people with criminal records, not having enough income, having poor hygiene or having a bad credit history. The legal decision depends on whether you have had as an argument to the decision of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status or disability of the prospectus. If your decision is due to an entirely different cause, you will not be breaking the law.

Manager: Do I have to tell him that this is declining your request? Do I have to explain why you do not rent it?

Me: No. At least concerned a related matter your credit history you do not have to give explanations. I recommend that you confirm in writing in a letter that all requests have been denied, although this is not necessary. In this situation, you do not have to say why it did not accept the request in the letter if it will send.

Administrators typically are surprised when they hear that they have no obligation to accept people who otherwise qualify to be tenants. This is due to wrong you should treat everyone the same way concept. It's a good idea to be consistent in how you treat all people, but no one undertakes to treat all people equally.

However, if you reject a request because it does not like a person, you run the risk of being sued for discrimination in case of a person belonging to the protected class. For example, if you refuse the request of a Hispanic woman who is in a wheelchair and have three children under age by the fact that she is obnoxious and rude to you and your team. The jury will be much easier to think that the rejection was due to any cause (disability, race, family status) and not the fact of misconduct on his part.