Renting Neighbors- issues

[Glenn Shaw]

So a house across the street is owned by an individual. His tenants that lived there before were a mess. We, as in the neighborhood, had issues with them on many occasions. We called the police multiple times due to loud ordinances and they had 7 Hispanic families living in a 3 bedroom house. Finally the owner got involved and did not renew their lease.

He is Arabic and his English is not great. He is a really nice guy and we text. He told me he wants only Hispanics to live there so he can charge them what he wants. Is that legal? We currently have no HOA and the neighborhood just wants a good family to move in and keep this a nice neighborhood. I understand that it's his house and he can do what he wants. I'm assuming we are at his mercy with no HOA. We are 1 mile from the school so have a lot of kids and just want this to be a fun and safe place.

[Kevin Sobilo]

@Glenn Shaw, I'm not going to address the ethnicity issue at all. That's a hot button issue and I don't think you need to think about it to address the situation.

It looks like your municipality limits the number of unrelated people living together:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson/2023/05...

In addition your state regulates how much space is required for the number of people living there. Look at Section 16.24.400 and especially paragraph E that specifies the bedroom size required depending on the number of occupants of the bedroom.

https://library.municode.com/tn/metro_government_of_nashvill...

With these regulations in hand your municipal code enforcement can keep 7 families from living in a 3 bedroom home unless the bedrooms are absolutely ENORMOUS but you need to report them and keep on code enforcement to investigate. If you are on good terms with the owner perhaps let him know about these requirements and that the neighborhood will make sure they are followed.