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No one in this forum cares if you discriminate. Everyone should discriminate in life. In the other forum the guy was being a jerk to make you feel like you were being racist.
No matter what part of the law allows U.S. residents to be able to discern who they can accept vs. being a property manager, etc. -----------
Just make sure you know the law regarding :making any kind of public statement" to state any kind of preference.
The U.S. government will be suing you…if someone reports it. Just watch out is all.
If anyone is interested how this debate even started, a host sent an SOS message to the fb group asking what she should do. A mother and teenage son had booked a room. The teenage son got so upset with having to share a queen sized bed with the mom, the mom asked if he could crash on the couch. Host says yes. First night her female roommate discovers this 14 year old boy sleeps naked on the couch. Also sleeps really late they can’t use the living room. Second night host wakes up at 6am to use bathroom to discover he’s naked and now masturbating on said couch. So along with other suggestions, I said it’s my rule to not accept anyone under the age of 18 because I’m scared of facing this scenario (not the masturbating part but the part with a teenager getting angry about have to share bed with parent and then insisting on sleeping on couch.)
This has nothing to do with discriminating. This has everything to do with the law in U.S. about allowing certain individuals to discriminate but NOT ALLOWING it to be stated in public - the reason is to help change society in to not discriminating about race, familial status, etc.
The reason it is against the law in certain instances is because when a public statement is made in a newspaper ad, craiglist posting, etc…the potential exists that thousands of people may also read that very same advertisement. So the goverment says it is okay to hush hush behind closed doors…as long as you are not encouraging discrimination in a public format. And some discrimination is actually healthy. The government does recognize your right to your own discretion of roommates, etc.
Apparently the 14 year old also downloaded porn on the host’s Wi-Fi (that’s what he was masturbating to).
From what I’ve read so far if you’re renting a stand alone unit it depends on some other details (how many units in the building, of those units how many you own etc.)
Not exactly cabinhost. The ~official~ line is one thing, the ~enforcement~ of the law is another. Because of the latter realities, oftentimes it appears the ‘enforcers’ are looking the other way, but they are not, more it is that it becomes so impractical of enforcing so many conflicting laws, especially those that intrude on what should be an inalienable right, such as freedom of association; too many laws IS the US’s biggest problem.
I get your meaning however, just pointing out the impracticality of many enacted laws, most of them are like added band-aids, and each one oftentimes then steps on another existing law. Just like programming, change one thing in one line of code, it ‘breaks’ another and leads to unforeseen outcomes.
I think I get what you’re saying… Do you think I’d be better protected if I say “because my dog is neurotic, my home is not suited for children. I only have a queen sized bed, no air mattress and I don’t allow anyone to sleep on the couch so if you bring a teenager make sure your kid is ready to sleep in the bed with you.” (Sorry I don’t have an elegant way to state that second part haha.)
Hahaha. Expertly put, no sense adding the part, ‘because if he doesn’t sleep in the bed, he will probably start masturbating in the couch, which has been my past experience’.
That’s pretty funny. Thankfully I have two twin beds in my guest room. If I had one larger bed, I definitely wouldn’t let anyone sleep on the couch to escape sleeping with their parent, because teenagers are particularly prone to sleeping all day and masturbating during most of their waking hours. I prefer them to do both where I don’t have to see.
The enforcers are the people like squatters who would be looking for a lawsuit. Not the government in this case. The government has no interest in a silly case about saying a place is not suitable for children if it really isn’t. However, the law states that you cannot publicly state that - it is up to the parent to decide. So a parent looking for something like this could sue for breaking the Fair Housing Act. It would not be the person suing personally. At first it would be the government investigating and then proceeding.
And yes, there is the Mrs. Murphy law exemption where small landlords can discriminate. However, you still cannot publicly state a preference. From what I have read is Airbnb and other sites may be protected for being on the internet - and they cannot control all content - but the owners of the content are still held liable.
No, my point is it is against the law to state in any public format that your rental is not suitable for children. I personally think all people should be able to state this. I am only repeating my understanding of the law. You can discriminate hush hush as long as you don’t publicly state it in advertising. And as long as you fit under the Mrs. Murphy exemption.
However, even if you’re exempt from complying with the FHA, it is still illegal to advertise or make any statement that indicates a limitation or preference based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or handicap. This prohibition against discriminatory advertising applies to single-family and owner-occupied housing that is otherwise exempt from the FHA. More information can be found at 24 C.F.R. pt. 100.
[quote=“lhsu718, post:42, topic:6039”]
The teenage son got so upset with having to share a queen sized bed with the mom, the mom asked if he could crash on the couch.
[/quote]Therein lies the whole crux of the matter. This is not a case of discrimination. It’s a case of the guest being so unaware of their family preferences that they would book a situation like this and not think that their son would be prickly about the sleeping circumstances. The host brought this on themselves by offering the couch when the guest had only booked the queen room. The guest should have sucked it up or left the booking if the arrangemnet as originally booked would not work. I never would have offered the couch. Your family problems are not my responsibility.
What FB group is this? Like I need another Airbnb host time suck.
It’s the Airbnb NYC group that was formed after Groups shut down. It’s surprising how most of the advice given is “do whatever the guest wants cause you could get a return customer.” (Usually given by a new host who never actually got a return customer LOL.) I’m usually the dissenting voice saying "no don’t give refund because the guest got their travel dates wrong and is arriving a day later, no don’t let them stay 7 hours past check out so they can go to the beach then use your shower before they start driving home after your cleaner had already finished turning the property over, no don’t offer to move a futon into their room (which is ultimately what the host with the masturbating son decided to do!!!)
Appeasement at any cost. There lies the folly. Little wonder Americans have become so expectant, and their means to get something for nothing is? Tantrums.
Your message is to bring the law to the awareness of others. Thank you.
In many ways the US legal system is a run-away wild bull. Laws are made by legislative government (local/federal) to address issues among its citizens. Police enforce the law. Citizens must abide by the laws. The problem rises when the citizens are not held responsible enough for their actions, meaning they are allowed the excuse that it is always someone else’s fault, and they in turn game the well-intentioned system to gain an advantage, and in turn cause a whole slew of ‘new rights’ (aka court law/precedent) who defy logic or fairness, never legislated upon nor subject to common sense, but now can be used to game the system even more wildly. In time, anything is possible. Nuts.
this is so interesting and eye-opening – I was aware of FHA regs but I thought they didn’t apply in this case since we are not offering long-term housing.
In June, I couldn’t rent an AirBNB near my parents because it was in a seniors only (55+) condo complex – I see that’s one of the exemptions in the regs. Thanks for posting all this, very useful!
