Renting to unmarried's

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Juniper

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I already put this in the apologetics forum, but think it would better belong here:

I have a rental house that has been empty since June 15, and the previous tenant stopped paying rent after Feb 15 (I had to evict her). The loss of income is really starting to hurt, as this house provides 30% of our take-home pay each month, since I am physically challenged and cannot work full-time. Also, my son (jr. in High School) is considering going to a private school this fall, so we really need the money. The realtor called this a.m. and said there is a couple with good jobs and possibly good credit references who want to move in in two days, but they are co-habiting (not married). Our ad says no pets, and they have a large show dog, which they say would be crated when they are not there. I feel I could make an allowance for this if their credit & background check are excellent and if they are nice people when I meet them. We live in a state where we cannot discriminate against people who are cohabiting. Does the church have any say about what I should do?
 
Do you have a choice? Many (most?) states require that you rent to the applicants, regardless of their maritial status.
 
Wow! That’s really difficult. I don’t think the Church specifically says anything about this case, but it is apparent that your conscience is telling you that you should think twice about it. Read from the Catechism of the Catholic Church starting at 1776.
 
Ramalama said:
Do you have a choice? Many (most?) states require that you rent to the applicants, regardless of their maritial status.
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That’s unfortunate, because in Va we don’t have to rent to cohabiters. I know of one apartment complex that will not in my town, mostly for pragmatic reasons.
 
Wow, there are so many ways I could look at this.

You have a legitimate and legal out to denying the application because they have a dog so the law doesn’t seem to be a problem, but because of the law I don’t believe that the church would require you to break the law to stand on some moral ground (though the extent to which this goes is up to debate).

I might ask what kind of relationship you have with your tenants and can you be a good Christian influence on them. That may be more compassionate then sending them out to the world to figure it out ( or not ) on their own.

You do have a responsibility even as a Catholic toward your family. Perhaps you could devote more to Almsgiving for the sake of this couple.

PRAY! Always. I recently saw Father Corapi. The theme of his talk was Easy Prayer.

God Bless you in your family and your decision,

Michael
 
Thanks everyone.
I am going to meet them & their dog in about 2 hrs.
Prayers are appreciated.
 
Yes! Rent to them, if this topic is even serious. Let your son go to private school. My parents put me in private schools all through childhood, and it really looks on on later applications.
 
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