Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: Laws about renting to single parent multiple children.

There are laws that prohibit discrimination based on marital status, so the fact that this person is a "single parent" should not be an issue. There are also laws that prohibit discrimination based on familial status, which is defined as having persons under the age of 18 in the household. The number of children should not be an issue unless you have a legitimate reason for believing it exceeds the occupancy standard. The rule of thumb for reasonalbe occupancy is two people per bedroom plus an additional person. So five people could reasonably occupy a 2-bedroom unit.

As a landlord, and a business, you are also subject to the Unruh Act, which prohibits arbitrary discrimination based on protected bases. This Act provides for automatic $4,000 damages if a violation is proven.

You should be very careful about exposing any opinions, judgments or biases when you are engaged in renting property in California. I strongly suggest you review the Fair Employment and Housing Act, the Unruh Act and any local rent ordinances.

Re: Laws about renting to single parent multiple children.

As another poster has touched on state law, I will address the federal issues:

Under the Federal Fair Housing, housing discrimination based on family status is prohibited. However, there is no one set policy with respect to occupancy limitations.

The Department of House & Urban Development has published guidelines. HUD policy on tenant density starts out with a general guideline of two persons per bedroom plus one (i.e. someone can sleep in the living room. This occupancy load will probably be deemed non-discriminatory. �Persons� means just that, human beings, regardless of age. Such a policy will create a rebuttable presumption that the occupancy policy is reasonable. In other words, it still may be deemed discriminatory if other factors are in place. There are a number of other factors to be taken into consideration, as follows.

The total square footage of the unit is a factor to be taken into consideration. For example, imagine a two-bedroom unit with a den, 1 � baths and plenty of living space, and ample space for parking vehicles. While under the rule of thumb, this unit with two bedrooms would justify a limitation of occupancy to five persons; the space and availability of the den would probably change that. After all, you could put a couple of people on air mattresses or bunk bed in the den, and with 1 � baths they might be able to accommodate themselves with a minimum number of breaches of the peace. On the other hand, if the landlord has a very small unit that happens to have two smaller than ordinary bedrooms with one bath and a tiny kitchen, a landlord might be justified in limiting the number of adult occupants to two or three. Nevertheless, the decision is going to be a matter of judgment, that is, uncertain.

The number of occupants might be affected by the age of minor dependents. For example, while a one-bedroom might be limited to two persons under normal circumstances, failure to admit two adults with a three-month-old infant could be deemed discriminatory. Going back to our example of the tiny two bedroom, the same idea would apply. Unfortunately, HUD policy containes examles and does not provide a simple formula. For this consideration, as for square footage, the decision is going to be a matter of judgment, that is, uncertain.

Physical limitations of the unit, other than square footage, are the last modifying factor under HUD policy. This is by far the most tenuous and dangerous factor the landlord might cite to justify variance from the HUD policy. The policy vaguely refers to plumbing and sewage and other amenities, and then says these could justify reducing the occupancy load of the premises. Presumably this does not refer to dilapidation that has occurred as a result of landlord neglect or that is repairable, although this is not so stated. Frankly, this aspect of the policy is so amorphous that little beyond speculation can be said about it.