Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

getting a roomate, breaching the lease?

I rented a 2 bed/2.5 bath townhouse 3 months ago, and signed one year lease. An Indian is looking for a place to live. So I asked my landlord to let her move in with me.

On my lease agreement, I can have up to 4 people, but under Resident Policies and House Rules Addendum, if I have guests to stay more than 7 days in 1 month may consider a breach of lease. They need to go through the application process, if approved, they need sign a lease.

So, the Indian girl handed my landload her application for my 2nd bedroom, along with her last 3 paychecks, copy of driver license, prior rental history, etc. for the owner full background check.

Then my landlord said he had to deny the girl's application, because of her relatively low credit score, 625. Even the girl mentioned to have her parents co-sign, the owner still won't approve her to move into my place.

The girl will only pay a smaller portion of the rent. I told the owner, I will still be responsible to pay $1650 with a roommate or not.

Is he trying to block me from getting a roommate, less wear and tear for his brand new property. Or is he discriminating against Indian people?

Do I have a case here? Can we sue the owner?


Asked on 4/05/08, 5:33 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mitchell Roth MW Roth, Professional Law Corporation

Re: getting a roomate, breaching the lease?

This is legally complex and, unfortunately, not worth the expense of trying to redress the perceived injustice. That being said, you can report the incident to the Fair Housing people and let them investigate. It would be interesting to know the credit scores of other tenants. He has no good reason not to approve, but I doubt you want to spend $20,000 or more to take on a civil case.

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Answered on 4/06/08, 1:56 pm


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