Real Estate Broker · Reno, NV · Member since 2015 · 116 posts · 48 votes
Hello BP!
I'm looking to build a student-housing niche portfolio in Reno, Nevada. My wife and I just acquired our first duplex a few months ago. It's currently occupied by undergraduate students but we would likely to specifically pursue graduate students in the future for our property. I understand that the Fair Housing Act only limits landlord discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap. Wouldn't "educational status" - i.e. whether or not you’re in school be a perfectly valid reason to refuse someone housing based on the law?
Our location is "A+" so we shouldn't have any issue finding potential tenants. Thus I'd like to be a little choosey and market directly to graduate students exclusively since I think it's likely they will be more responsible tenants. I was wondering if that would be considered illegal. By my reading of the law's guidance, no, it wouldn't, but I'm not sure if there's case law or other things I'm unaware of that may make my interpretation wrong. I ask because some folks have stated that you cannot create advertisements specifically requesting only a certain class of tenant apply (i.e. students). If it's legal I would like to only target graduate students by sending emails to them over the university's graduate listservs.
Best to check with an attorney but I'll tell you my experience with something like this recently.
I had a listing for a 1BR garage-style apartment and the owner told me she wanted to limit the property to 1 tenant. That felt a little creepy to me so I called the TAR legal hotline and asked the attorney if this arrangement was somehow discriminatory, say against married couples.
She replied that yes, it is discriminatory against married couples but being married is not a protected class.
So applying that to your situation, it seems logical that since education level is not a protected class, you should be able to limit your tenants to grad students.
Definitely check with an attorney, however. There may be state laws that go beyond the protection offered by FHA.
Best to check with an attorney but I'll tell you my experience with something like this recently.
I had a listing for a 1BR garage-style apartment and the owner told me she wanted to limit the property to 1 tenant. That felt a little creepy to me so I called the TAR legal hotline and asked the attorney if this arrangement was somehow discriminatory, say against married couples.
She replied that yes, it is discriminatory against married couples but being married is not a protected class.
So applying that to your situation, it seems logical that since education level is not a protected class, you should be able to limit your tenants to grad students.
Definitely check with an attorney, however. There may be state laws that go beyond the protection offered by FHA.
To add on in the present case; there isn't *currently* a federal law that prohibits such practices by Landlords, but there are *proposed* federal laws that would do so. There may be, however, state laws. Consult a local attorney licensed to practice in your state.