Discrimination Claim Made Against Me

[Enyi Ajoku]

Hello Everyone,

I recently had an apartment put up for rent and have been going through the process of looking at potential tenants. I got a lady who came to look at the apartment. She kept on talking about how she loved the apartment and how it would be a good place for her grand kids. She filled out the application form on it she said she didn't have any pet. We also spoke about her income where i mentioned my concerned but she said stopped working (approximately 8years) when she realized she was making more from delivery service (uber eats, doordash etc).

She did the background check, credit score was low and again she went on with how she was working/planning to improve her score. I was finally able to reach out to her previous landlord who informed me that she's a good tenant but when i asked if she had a pet she said yes. I followed up with a call to the lady and when i asked why she checked "no" on the pet section. She said it was an emotional support animal. She also sent me supporting document. For the last couple of days I've had some family issues and i couldn't respond back to her. 

I just got an email from her that she would be filing a complaint with HUD that i am discriminating because of her support animal. She has not met any of my requirements but i was considering renting to her but with recent event i am quite concerned that she may be a handful.

Your thoughts on how to go about this would be greatly appreciated 

[Nathan Gesner]

First off, you may be exempt from Fair Housing laws. Regardless, she's most likely blowing smoke and trying to threaten you.

Do you have your requirements in writing for credit score? If you do, I would tell her she failed to meet your credit score requirement and her application was denied for reasons that have nothing to do with the service animal. If you don't have your requirements in writing, you can still try this but it may bite you if she follows through with a complaint (unlikely).

This is a good example of why it's important to have your qualification requirements in writing so you can point to them and demonstrate your screening is fair and applied to all equally.