State and federal low income programs

[Mike K.]

Im a recent landlord who inherited a tenant. I get paid directly from the tenant, not the government, there is no low income status on the lease. The tenant is now demanding i get involved in various state and federal low income programs such as winterization and low income heating assistance programs. Do i have to get involved? Im very reluctant. 

[Anthony Thompson]

My understanding is that the new law, which was added last year, adds "source of income" to the list of protected classes, for which a landlord may not use to determine tenant eligibility. See the "lawful source of income" phrase used in the Rhode Island Fair Housing Practices Act (RIGL 34-37), or here's the bill that passed the changes.

My understanding, and I'm not at attorney, is that it only applies to tenant selection, and wouldn't mandate that you sign up for any government program the tenant demanded. However it could also be said that if the tenant's source of income changed from a job to government assistance, you couldn't evict them for that change since it's still a "lawful source of income".

I don't have the details here so I'm not sure what the tenant's motivations are; it sounds like they're demanding you insulate the property so their heating bill goes down maybe?

It doesn't sound to me like it's a good tenant relationship and when their lease is up you could consider just terminating the lease. The tenant demanding you make improvements to your property, which you disagree with, sounds like a fine and normal reason to end a rental relationship, regardless of where some/all of the funds for the improvements would come from.

Also, some of the government funding type property improvement programs come with some serious strings, like restrictions on how much rent you can charge for X number of years going forward. If you do decide to look into any of those programs, be sure to read all the fine print.