House Hacking Discrimination?

[Kevin Suzuki]

Hi BP!

Long-time lurker, first time poster. After listening to podcasts and viewing forums, I wanted to try to house-hack the home that I own and currently live in.

My question is, am I allowed to choose a tenant who I will share a house with based on gender or age? I want someone around my age so that we will get along and preferably someone the same gender as I am. 
I realize I would not be able to do this based on the law if I was renting an entire home out, but are the rules different if I will just be renting a room and sharing the common area with them (kitchen, living room, bathroom). 

I am from California if that makes a difference.

THANKS BP!

[Michael Delpier]

I have had roomates in a house in California. but I never needed to advertise so I did not run into this issue. But craigslist has links to rental laws and guidelines as defined bu HUD....

• Advertising: Federal Fair Housing laws prohibit discriminatory advertising in all housing, regardless of how large or small the property. However, advertising which expresses a preference based upon sex is allowed in shared living situations where tenants will share a bathroom, kitchen, or other common area.

Hope this helps.

[Josh Bakhshi]

I would hope you can pick your roommate and not have the government decide for you. But I don't know ca laws. good luck

[Joshua Springer]

Look up your state laws, but typically in SFH there are less restrictions in who you pick BUT you usually can't advertise to specific groups of people...age, gender etc.

[Paul Ewing]

I think there are exemptions for roommates and I think even some exemptions for a duplex when you live in one side.

[Kevin Suzuki]

i tried looking it up, but I couldn't find anything specific. Maybe I am not looking in the right place or maybe house-hacking is so new there are barely any laws yet haha. 

Hoping to get more feedback. 

Thanks BP, you guys rock

[Nicole A.]

Well, until you know for sure, you could just be sure not to put things like "males only" in your ad. But when people respond to your ad, you can of course choose who you'll reply to.

I've been renting out an extra room or two in my own home since 2009. I've used Craigslist and Roommates.com (which costs a fee to get worthwhile use of it). Lots of people on the Roommates site say their preference for gender and age and other things. I think, in fact, it's part of the profile you fill out.

[Michael Delpier]

I have had roomates in a house in California. but I never needed to advertise so I did not run into this issue. But craigslist has links to rental laws and guidelines as defined bu HUD....

• Advertising: Federal Fair Housing laws prohibit discriminatory advertising in all housing, regardless of how large or small the property. However, advertising which expresses a preference based upon sex is allowed in shared living situations where tenants will share a bathroom, kitchen, or other common area.

Hope this helps.

[Michael Delpier]

oops, FHA not HUD for my above post.

here is the link to the info from craigslist. This is what I used when house hacking many years ago.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/FHA

[Kyle J.]

Welcome to BP @Kevin Suzuki.

As you thought, the Fair Housing/discrimination laws do differ slightly when dealing with a house-sharing situation where the owner also lives in the house and rents to one other person who is allowed to share in the common living areas of the house.

So, the short answer is - yes, you can choose your roommate based on their gender (as long as certain conditions are met), but I suggest doing your own reading/research on the topic to be sure that what you'd like to do is within the law.  Here's a few places to start:

If Renting a Shared House, Can a Landlord Specify What Gender Renter They Want?

California Department of Consumer Affairs - Unlawful Discrimination

Fair Housing Acts Don’t Apply to Roommate Listings

[Jon Holdman]

"House hacking" as a term might be new. But having paying roommates is nothing new at all.  My great grandma (who was the spitting image of Grannie in the Beverly Hillbillies, other than it was her brothers who made moonshine not her) talked about "taking in a boarder" when times where tough.

Before going down this road I strongly recommend finding a knowledgeable landlord/tenant lawyer and getting a briefing on all relevant laws.

[Elizabeth Colegrove]

While I haven't specifically looked at ca law I haven't seen anything saying you can't! (Not legal advise)

I have a couple articles on this as we did this when we first started out. My only piece of advise is to treat it the same way as your would with a rental prowpety! 3x rent, background credit check etc

We house hacked a rental with the landlords  permission and that is what helped us have the money to buy our first two homes! Totally recommended ;)

[Cody Steck]

Here are some exceptions to the fair housing act. Note the two parts where it talks about multi-family housing owner occupant and the single family housing. 

They talk about the fair housing act and its exceptions in the licensing course for Utah. 

This website is obviously not a government site and the information should be acknowledged as such. I'm not a lawyer. Seek legal advice for further questions.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/1968-federal-fair-housing-act-exceptions-on-the-re.html

[Bryan O.]

You'll want to look up the "Mrs. Murphy exemption" for California. Here's a good high-level, but you'll need to dig deeper and consult a professional:

http://fairhousing.foxrothschild.com/2013/04/articles/fha-basics/the-fhas-mrs-murphy-exemption-a-50-state-guide/

[Karen Margrave]

@Kevin Suzuki  When you are living in the home and renting out your rooms, you can have criteria that the renters must meet. The government cannot make you put anyone off the street into your house (yet). 

However; in doing this, you should talk to an attorney about the agreement to use. There are ways to do it where if someone doesn't follow your house rules they can immediately evicted, rather than going through the whole process, it's used in sober living and other transitional housing. Spell out all the terms and conditions and put them IN WRITING. Talk to an attorney and get their advice, as none of us can take the place of actual legal advice.

[Logan Allec]

Age?  No.  Gender?  Yes.

California Government Code Section 12927(c)(2)(B). As used in this part in connection with housing accommodations, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:

(c)(2) "Discrimination" does not include either of the following:

(B) Where the sharing of living areas in a single dwelling unit is involved, the use of words stating or tending to imply that the housing being advertised is available only to persons of one sex.

See also the California Department of Consumer Affairs' explanation: "A person in a single-family dwelling who advertises for a roommate may express a preference on the basis of gender, if living areas (such as the kitchen, living room, or bathroom) will be shared by the roommate."

[Account Closed]

Currently rent out all my rooms outside my master.  Covers the entire mortgage.  Some pains on privacy and cleanliness, but I've never had to worry about being super choosy when it comes to gender.  I do have to turn a lot down due to them wanting to be couples for a 10x10 room.

[Wesley Pittman]

I know this is an old thread but it helped me so I figured I would post this for the sake of forum posterity-

Here's the actual law:

http://www.justice.gov/crt/fair-housing-act-2

Here's the text pertinent to the exclusions:

1. (b)Nothing in section 804 of this title (other than subsection (c)) shall apply to--
   1. (1) any single-family house sold or rented by an owner: Provided, That such private individual owner does not own more than three such single-family houses at any one time: Provided further, That in the case of the sale of any such single-family house by a private individual owner not residing in such house at the time of such sale or who was not the most recent resident of such house prior to such sale, the exemption granted by this subsection shall apply only with respect to one such sale within any twenty-four month period: Provided further, That such bona fide private individual owner does not own any interest in, nor is there owned or reserved on his behalf, under any express or voluntary agreement, title to or any right to all or a portion of the proceeds from the sale or rental of, more than three such single-family houses at any one time: Provided further, That after December 31, 1969, the sale or rental of any such single-family house shall be excepted from the application of this subchapter only if such house is sold or rented (A) without the use in any manner of the sales or rental facilities or the sales or rental services of any real estate broker, agent, or salesman, or of such facilities or services of any person in the business of selling or renting dwellings, or of any employee or agent of any such broker, agent, salesman, or person and (B) without the publication, posting or mailing, after notice, of any advertisement or written notice in violation of section 804(c) of this title; but nothing in this proviso shall prohibit the use of attorneys, escrow agents, abstractors, title companies, and other such professional assistance as necessary to perfect or transfer the title, or

(2)rooms or units in dwellings containing living quarters occupied or intended to be occupied by no more than four families living independently of each other, if the owner actually maintains and occupies one of such living quarters as his residence.

[Sarah Ziehr]

I just have to put this out there- No one may discriminate on the basis of race, EVER.

Since you are just renting out a room in your house, you can be choosy, just don't advertise it and for good measure, don't talk about it to anyone. 

I would say, get as much information on them up front and only schedule an appointment with someone you feel comfortable with. Good luck! 

[Jeff B.]

Originally posted by @Kevin Suzuki:

Hi BP!

My question is, am I allowed to choose a tenant who I will share a house with based on gender or age? I want someone around my age so that we will get along and preferably someone the same gender as I am. 

I realize I would not be able to do this based on the law if I was renting an entire home out, but are the rules different if I will just be renting a room and sharing the common area with them (kitchen, living room, bathroom). 

I am from California if that makes a difference.

THANKS BP!

You are correct; rules for renting rooms are more flexible in Calif.