Renting to homosexuals

[WhiteDove]

I think it’s OK to rent to these people. Saint Paul said that we are not to judge non-Christians. Here is the pertinant passage that says that we are not to expect those outside the Church to live up to it’s standards, and that we sometimes need to associate with them. I think this might apply to this situation.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral men;
10 not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
11 But rather I wrote to you not to associate with any one who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber – not even to eat with such a one.
12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?
13 God judges those outside. “Drive out the wicked person from among you.”

 

[HomeschoolMOM]

First, I would like to ask “how you found out this couple was gay?” Are they a couple who would openly express their sexuality to others? If that is the case, than I believe you have a responsibility to the neighborhood to which you own the property. I too was a landlord. I tried very hard to fit the tenants to the neighborhoods expectations. Since, most of the homes were not rentals,rather, the residents were homeowners. Many would say, how does this matter, well, tenants do tend to respect neighbors much less than a homeowner would. They have far less to lose if they upset a neighbor or disturb a community. Does this neighborhood mostly consist of families? Have you thought of what your tenants could be showing to the neighborhood children? As the owner of the property I feel you do have a responsibility to the neighborhood. Not to discriminate against homosexuals directly, but on the outward expression of what a couple would do in their home in view of neighbors. I would feel the same way about two hetersexuals living together. But, how confusing would this be for small children in the neighborhood to see two homosexuals sharing affections in their view? As a mother, I would be furious if neighbor of mine showed homosexual behavior in from of my children.
Just my opinion.

 

[tmitchell2]

If you are looking for a legal opinion, you can contact RealChek and their lawyers will let you know what the law says. 1-800-955-2435. A high application fee to everyone usually keeps people with bad credit or unusual situations from applying. The ones who do apply are usually serious and in good standing.

I recently rented my house and, although I didn’t have any homosexuals apply, I had to think through the ramifications of my rental decision. My house is in a family neighborhood, and I wasn’t keen on renting to unmarried couples or homosexual couples. I didn’t want to give bad examples to the young kids on the block.

The pastor at our parish let me advertise for free in the church paper because he wants to replace Catholic families who move out with other Catholic families moving in. Catholic priests out there:take notice!

 

[pittsburghjeff]

atsheeran:

OK, here’s my chance to put my expertise as a law student to work.

Laws vary by state, so unless these posters know the specific laws of your state, most of their legal advice is pretty useless. I don’t know the laws of your state either.

QUOTE]

I just wanted to add that in addition to laws varying by state, landlords need to be concerned about local city anti-discrimination ordinances. The more liberal cities have passed these ordinances. So even though a state, say Colorado, might not have any law protecting homosexuals from discrimination, a city like Denver might. These city ordinances are more prevelant than state laws protecting gays.

As a matter of fact, a few years ago the voters of Colorado passed a referendum amending their state constitition to prohibit political subdivisions (cities, towns, counties, etc.) in Colorado from adopting these anti-discrimination ordinances but our US Supreme Court held that that was a violation of the Equal Protection clause of the US Constitution.

 

[BayCityRickL]

The legal, moral, and emotional baggage carries over independently to convicted sex offenders.

But, where is our sense of forgiveness?

 

[puzzleannie]

how do you know your renters are homosexual lovers, or unmarried heterosexual lovers, or metrosexuals, or whatever? as a landlord do you invade their privacy? do you ask these questions on the rental application? The answer is you don’t know, you only speculate and the moral position is to always err on the side of charity in avoiding judgments on the state of another person’s soul.

 

[martino]

I do not think that sexuality should be part of the rental application. It has nothing to do with whether or not he will be a good tenant. You cannot be responsible for the sins of your tenants. I think you should base your decision on the information provided on any standard rental application.

If it is such a big deal for you to know the sexuality of your tenants you will have to start asking up front the sexual orientation off all your potential renters. Otherwise you are basically practicing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which means that as long as you don’t know about it you don’t care, but if you happen to find out then there is a problem.

The Church teaches that we cannot descriminate against homosexual people.
2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. They do not choose their homosexual condition; for most of them it is a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

I suppose that I could be off base here but this sounds right to me. Hope it helps you!

 

[seeker63]

If you do decide to rent to them, make sure and get a large security deposit—they may want to put in track lighting or sissal rugs or something.

 

[RichT]

I wonder how many of the replies came from experienced rental property owners? Unfotunately, you may not have a legal choice in the matter. Most states have anti-discrimination laws that protect yes, even homosexuals. If you are going to get into the Real Estate game you need to be aware of these laws and be prepared to rent to tenants based on their ability to pay the rent and take care of your property. Period.

If you can’t handle renting to unmarried couples, homosexual couples, or for that matter a registered sex offender, then maybe Real Estate isn’t for you. Until this country takes a stance against such things, we are stuck.

 

[loyola_rambler]

The reality is that if you don’t have the money to be sued, don’t give them grounds to take you to court. Long and short of it. Everyone with a special agenda should be considered out to sue you if you’re doing something to discriminate against them (and yes, that’s what you’re doing).

But the other reality is that I’m not aware of any state or municipality that requires anyone to rent to members of a given group over anyone else. If you have more than one applicant, then move on. You’re not required to tell why you’re not offering a lease…you just don’t call them back or you send them a letter that says you’re not able to offer them a contract at this time. If you give any reasons, they’re subject to challenge. If you give no reasons, then you’re vague enough that no one can make a solid housing discrimination case against you.

If you don’t have other applicants, then you’re in a different situation. Either give them a lease or find something in their credit check that raises a red flag for you (i.e. is their score over 750? no? then they don’t meet your credit standards. Or have they ever been late on a payment of any kind in the last few years? Then you can use that.)

Otherwise, treat them with dignity and respect and let them move in.

 

[sparkle]

Pere i Pau:

Personally I wouldn’t. Any landlord has the right to morally discriminate against potential tenents. This has little to do with whether they are homosexuals or not. I had the opportunity to rent my home in Spain to the girlfriend of a buddy of mine and I declined. I thought long term. What if they break up and she doesn’t want to leave? What am I encouraging? A sex home, where he can have her there to have sex with? I wouldn’t desecrate my property with that type of behaviour, and certainly not to a homosexual couple. I would not encourage it.

I admire your honesty! Someone in this life has to have the guts to stand for morality. And as a Christian, it’s our duty to keep our businesses free from this immoral influence. It’s not that we don’t love homosexuals as human beings, of course you do, but when in a position of authority, such as a landlord, hiring an employee, etc., you’re free to choose who you want to rent to, or hire. Just choose another candidate instead. I’m sure you must have other applicants, other potential employees. You can’t pick everybody when say, 1 unit is for rent!!! Why encourage this sick life style and have other honest family going folks who live on the property to have to view it----i.e., their choice of company spending the nite, etc. It’s really sick!

I’m personally getting so tired of all this “fighting for the rights of gays”. They should keep to themselves, and we must be free to choose to rent to whom we want, hire whom we want.