Noisy Families: Protected Class

[Christopher Reynolds]

Hello BP. I have an apartment for rent, and here is a conversation between me and a lady viewing the apartment.

Her: "How do you feel about kids?"

Me: "I like them!"

(We have a laugh for a moment)

Her: "I ask because some landlords don't like that we have kids"

Me: "We'll it's illegal to discriminate like that. As far as us, we just want good people. Families, single people, couples, anyone who will be a good tenant is who we'd love to have here"

Conversation is going well, until she says:

Her: "Who lives in the first floor apartment?" (The unit is on the second floor)

Me: "A quiet, professional couple. Very good people, we hope they stay for many years"

Her: "Oh ok, I'm asking because I wouldn't want to live above you if you were downstairs, the kids get very noisy, I wouldn't want to annoy my landlords"

She admitted her kids are very noisy. So noisy that she's worried about disturbing her landlords if we lived below them. Even more important than our comfort is the comfort of our very good tenants. As a side note, our very good tenant's "reason for moving" entry on our application was because of noisy neighbors.

I'm aware of Fair Housing laws and protected classes, familial status being one of them. However, what are our rights as landlords if an applicant admits her kids would be so noisy that she EXPECTS the downstairs tenants to be disturbed?

For this apartment, we are seeking a 12 month lease from applicants. Would it be a bad idea to offer her a monthly agreement, and if the noise was too much, we could ask them to leave? I don't want to treat applicants differently from each other, but I feel we'd be taking a risk.

Also, the whole thing felt strange to me because she not only asked "how do you feel about kids", but later on in the viewing, she asked "so what are you looking for?" I repeated what I said before, that we were looking for quality and credit worthy tenants of any type who would take care of the apartment very well. I don't know if the Fair Housing offices conduct stings that attempt to catch unlawful landlords in discrimination offenses, but this felt like exactly that to me. That said, she seemed like a perfectly nice lady, but I just was very puzzled by what she said.

So BP, are NOISY families a protected class?

[Bill Gulley]

No, bad behavior is not a protected class. I'd ask if she thought if her family could provide the quiet enjoyment required for neighbors as they have a legal right to such an environment. I might say, "at this point, only you can tell me if your family is suited to apartment living with neighbors" can she respect the rights of others? Many aren't suited for apartment life, in that case show them a house or refer them a fellow LL.

We have the "Housing Checkers" here too, if she was one, that's not a valid ploy for any violation, admitting you're loud is not an age issue so much, I'd put it back on her to make the determination.

I'd certainly take the application, after underwriting it, they may not qualify, if they do, offer the place.

I'd stick to the fact that she needs to comply with limited noise responsibilities, there are noise ordinances, as far as I know noise is noise, IMO. :)