Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
multi-applicants/age discrimation/we applied first
My fiance and I applied to rent a home through a rental agency. We were the first to look at it, and also the first to turn in any applications and money for a credit check. A few hours after I payed and turned in the apps, he showed the house to another couple (who were older in age). I called him to ask him the next day to ask him whether he had looked at our apps yet, and he said no. I called him again and he said that it was between us and this other couple. He said our credit and apps looked perfect, and that the other couple had a few problems and pets (which I believe were not allowed), but he had to check first with the owner of the home. Is he discriminating against us? Can he turn us down if he likes the other couple more? We were there first...shouldn't WE get the house?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: multi-applicants/age discrimation/we applied first
There are lots of kinds of discrimination that are perfectly legal. (Many people don't know this!)
The list of illegal bases for discrimination is relatively short. I'm not sure I can give you the complete list from the Unruh Fair Housing Act or other laws, but it would include: race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual preference, (old) age and maybe one or two other things.
There is absolutely no law requiring a landlord to rent to the first qualified applicant.
Re: multi-applicants/age discrimation/we applied first
Mr. Whipple is absolutely correct. As long as the discrimination has nothing to do with the prohibited categories (i.e. race, etc.), they have freedom of contract and can choose anyone they want to be their tenant.
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