Rent to co-habitation two some

[jmjconder]

**I have asked a couple of respected people this question and have received two different answers.

We own a home that we are in dire need of renting (financially). If we know the people that want to rent are two people living under the same address and not married…are we morally obligated NOT to rent to them?

They are active “Christian” members of their Baptist Church.

We are financially strapped and need to rent the home soon. They are the only people who have responded.**

 

[ConstantineTG]

The issue may go beyond morals. Once you rent, you are under the mercy of the local laws that govern tenant and renter. I think somewhere there you’ll find protection against discrimination.

I had a chat once with a lady who runs a bed and breakfast. She was telling of a story of another person running a B&B who refused a gay couple. That person was suspended of her B&B license and asked to take some sort of lessons against discrimination.

So if you are going to rent out your room, have a rentable suite, or rent out the entire home, know that moral issues take a backseat to whats legal. If you refuse people who’s lifestyle is perfectly legal albeit immoral, then you may lose your permit to rent and may even be prosecuted for discrimination.

 

[LCMS_No_More]

The issue may go beyond morals. Once you rent, you are under the mercy of the local laws that govern tenant and renter. I think somewhere there you’ll find protection against discrimination.

I had a chat once with a lady who runs a bed and breakfast. She was telling of a story of another person running a B&B who refused a gay couple. That person was suspended of her B&B license and asked to take some sort of lessons against discrimination.

So if you are going to rent out your room, have a rentable suite, or rent out the entire home, know that moral issues take a backseat to whats legal. If you refuse people who’s lifestyle is perfectly legal albeit immoral, then you may lose your permit to rent and may even be prosecuted for discrimination.

Just an aside, one cannot be prosecuted for something that is not a crime. Unlawful discrimination is a civil matter. The person who believes they are being discriminated against can sue, which is their only legal remedy. A person who has been found to have unlawfully discriminated against another person doesn’t go to jail or anything like that. It’s purely a civil matter.

 

[fbl9]

**I have asked a couple of respected people this question and have received two different answers.

We own a home that we are in dire need of renting (financially). If we know the people that want to rent are two people living under the same address and not married…are we morally obligated NOT to rent to them?

They are active “Christian” members of their Baptist Church.

We are financially strapped and need to rent the home soon. They are the only people who have responded.**

If they are active members of the Baptist fellowship, what makes you think/feel they are not living chastely?

 

[Bluegoat]

I don’t think there is a clear answer to this. My feeling would be that if you owned rental properties those things would be none of your business, but if you were renting a room in your home they would be. THis seems kind of in the middle.

I’d say rent to them. If you were to rent to a single person or even a married couple they could be doing all kinds of weird things that you would never know about. And really, these people may not be very culpable. You don’t know much about them, or what they have been taught, and aren’t in much of a position to make judgments. Since it really isn’t your place to educate them, I also think it isn’t your place to refuse to rent to them. If they seem like generally good people who will be good tenants than I don’t think you need to ask for much more.

 

[jmcrae]

Under the law, the only grounds you have for not renting to them would be, if they left their last place a wreck and didn’t pay for the damage, if they are known to be drug dealers or in some other way are likely to be running an illegal business from out of your property, or if they have a history of not paying their rent on time.

As long as they keep the place neat and tidy, don’t do anything illegal in the house itself, and pay the rent on time, you have no grounds to refuse them.

And speaking of the above, do get references from their previous landlords, and do check them, without telling them what day or what time you plan to phone their references, so that they can’t get dear old Dad to pretend he was their previous landlord - we’ve had people try to pull that on us, only we phoned the number a few days later than we said we would, and the guy who was supposed to be pretending he was their former landlord had forgotten his lines by then.

Needless to say, we rented it to someone else.

But if you are only getting one person interested, you might be asking for too much money - try lowering your price and see if you get a few more calls.

 

[surfinpure]

But if you are only getting one person interested, you might be asking for too much money - try lowering your price and see if you get a few more calls.

I know neither the law nor the moral ramifications of renting to an unmarried couple, but my mother has been using this method in renting some high-end loft apartments for a long time. She’s sensibly choosy about her tenants, so in order to have the pick of the litter, she’s willing to keep her price quite low.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Just an aside, one cannot be prosecuted for something that is not a crime. Unlawful discrimination is a civil matter. The person who believes they are being discriminated against can sue, which is their only legal remedy. A person who has been found to have unlawfully discriminated against another person doesn’t go to jail or anything like that. It’s purely a civil matter.

Isn’t hate crime a criminal act? I know Canada has an anti-hate crime law. It could be different in the US.

 

[vera_dicere]

Are you sure they’re even in a “relationship”? I’ve lived with members of teh other sex and I can tell you, I wasn’t involved in them in any way, shape or form, just flat mates. Maybe they are just friends? It might be somewhat uncharitable to judge them, of course, you’ll know for sure if they are in a relationship.

But by that logic, you might not want to rent to any males because they could commit the sin of masturbation in your house.

I say rent to them. The ins and outs of thinking about what someone is or isn’t doing, sinfully, is just too open for interpretation.

 

[Listener]

I believe that it is fine to rent to them. Besides the legal questions, I think that most applications to rent a house would not ask the couple’s marital status. At least, I think this is true if you’re using a property manager. If a couple applies, they could be married but have different names. You wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at the application.

The way I see it, you could rent to two women or two men who are supposedly roommates. They could then bring in their boy friends/ girl friends in for overnight visits.

If you know that the couple is married, one of them might have an overnight lover in while the other is out of town.

In other words, you have absolutely no control over the situation, and you are not responsible for your tenant’s behavior.

 

[hartleymartin]

You are renting out a property. You are not responsible for the actions of those living in that property.