I am getting impatient with the responses to my rental ad. I have stated specifically that the present tenants are looking for a female roommate.....I get men responding to my ad...uh, can you read?!

When I respond back to them that a female is requested, they say "Oh"., but now I am just not responding to them at all.

Plus, the ad again specifically states that it is for a ROOM within a 3 bedroom apartment, but for some reason, they read "Oh, a whole apartment for just the price of one room"!

I even started the ad with "please read this ad carefully", so that I am making myself very clear.......to no avail!!

They are looking as well, but I also place an ad to help them out. They are 2 women who want another female roommate, both students and want another. I can't think that would be considered discrimination since they are the ones who will be living with the 3rd person.

Jo,.

As the LL, you DO need to be careful putting the "female" preference on there. Let them decide who they want and they can carry the burden of screening out the illiterate dudes.

If you say "female" anyone can assume that YOU ONLY accept females at this property. Even if it is not YOUR preference,(the roommate's) you could be in hot water because you are the one posting it.

I still see ads that say "no kids", but that doesn't mean it's not discrimination just because the ad agency allowed it.

Save yourself some headaches and stay out of it. Let them do their part and you do yours when it's time to screen.

Save yourself a headache and let the tenants find their

own room mate. It is like the other day at the mall,

the sign clearly said Buy One Get one at 50% off. I over heard the woman giving the clerk a hard time that her one

Jo,

How old fashioned of you! Imagine, girls wanting a girl roommate!

For years TV has been full of male/female roommates. College dorms are mixing sexes on the same floor and bathroom.

I still cannot figure out why any girl would want men on the floor. They'd have to put on makeup just to go down the hall.

I rent out by the room. I find many college students only want one room and don't want to have the hassle of finding 2 or 3 roommates to live in an apartment. A room suffices for most of my rentals.

So, there are separate leases and I find my tenants unless one of them has a friend who wants to reside with them. This has worked out very well for me.

I have had the mixing of genders in some situations, however, some women like the ones I now have wouldn't feel as comfortable with a guy in the premesis...yes...old fashioned!!

The 2 girls there now prefer another girl.

I hadn't thought about the gender name issue, but it is something I will definitely check out. I still am having a hard time understanding that someone just can't state their gender preference anymore due to being old fashioned, or for safety reasons.

Jo, I don't understand it either....but it's becoming the law. You cannot assume or presume gender any more. If a Dude looks like a dude but says he's a she....well, I just offended him (her) by using the wrong pronoun. Seriously. I kid you not. I have read the LGBTQ friendly legislation across the country for school districts that state teachers can be disciplined for calling a child by the wrong pronoun the minute after the child decides he is a she or she is a he. You have to start using the new name the child chooses and pronouns. Good luck to you if you are like me and it takes a few days to unlearn something that was true last week....or if you miss the memo and it's just an honest mistake. No excuses for not bowing down to the all mighty phrase: "I'm offended!"

Apparently, in NYC there is now a law that requires the use of pronouns "ze" and "hir" that teachers, land lords, all business professionals can be fined if we fail to use it when someone decides they aren't what they used to be. I didn't even know these existed until a week ago.

Being old fashioned means you and I are big0ts and h@ters by definition. All because...you know...we call it like it is. Welcome to the modern age.

I can see a problem that if YOU chose the roommate of a diff sex and. There was an act of 'innapropiate behaviorthen you are responsible.

I can see a problem that if YOU chose the roommate of a diff sex and. There was an act of 'innapropiate behaviorthen you are responsible.

Sid, yes you are so right! There are new laws coming out constantly.

A friend of mine who works at a university was called on the carpet for accidentally calling a student their birth name instead of their new identity name....insane!!

I agree with the other posters, rejecting a particular gender may get you in trouble, which would be especially unfortunate as you are trying to help your tenants.

I would go a step further.....I would NOT ask "can you read?". One of the callers might not be able to read. In our overly sensitive politically correct times, even your innocent question might cause you problems with some rights group. Instead I might ask...."have you read the ad?".

Andrew, I don't say "can you read" in my ad I just used that for this post.

I do say "please read this ad carefully" and if that is socially incorrect, then it's crazy!

These aren't really roommates by what you've described(that share rent and utilities, etc)- this is more like a rooming house situation.

This is all on you and up to you to fix the ad or realize that you are taking a risk.

It has definitely been interesting trying to teach my kids in such a confusing time. Or maybe it's just been interesting for my kids to teach their confused mom!

Btw, in case my comments have "offended" anyone....realize I right now have 2 tenants who are "L"....one who is "B", and one who is "T" but soon to be "M" (in transition). Some of the others may be "Q" but haven't shared.

I don't care as long as he/she/it/ze/hir/etc pays the rent, behaves like a good neighbor, and takes care of the place. What kills me is that laws are made and updated constantly and I could be fined for a simple mistake and/or an expression of my beliefs. Granted, the law says "repeated unwillingness to use the person's preferred pronouns/names", but behind that is implied I must AGREE WITH whatever social agenda that pronoun / name is pushing....and the fact is I don't.

So, in 2012, there was a case involving roommates.com. Contrary to what was expected, the court ruled that it was NOT illegal to advertise for a gender-specific roommate. The opinion stated that the word "dwelling" as it applied to the Fair Housing Act ended at the front door of the building. Therefore, they stated that those inside WERE allowed to discriminate legally based on gender if they wanted to.

Roommates.com was basically having categories based on gender -- so you could go search the "male" section or "female" section -- and was sued for violating the FHA. The judges disagreed that it was illegal discrimination.

Just to throw that out there. Because it runs contrary to what most people used to (and still) assume about this being a violation.

- John...

Our kid was a sophomore in college when the former presidential administration decided that students could use whatever bathroom and showers which they identified with. The dorm director was smart, and turned over two handicapped bathrooms to the two (out of 600) students who declared that they were the opposite gender to their physical one. This covered the couple of months that was left in the spring semester, as the two students had their own private bathroom each.

The following year, that dorm, with its traditional down-the-hall gender specific bathrooms, was abruptly closed for "renovations", and all students put into a dorm that had suites containing bathrooms for each individual or pair of students.

been DOING THIS FOR 30 YEARS. wouldn't TOUCH THIS WITH A 20 FOOT POLE. Are you for real? Your post heading should be used by you.

Ken: I disagree. In the case, they considered the web site itself (Roommates.com) to NOT be the tenants. That was a big part of the case itself. They specifically considered them to be a 3rd party advertising for the tenants -- much like a landlord might.

There are many web sites out there discussing this and they all pretty much agree that the results of that case DO apply to landlords helping to find roommates for existing tenants. It does not just apply to existing tenants advertising for a roommate themselves.

- John...

I could see a court sorting out the differences;.

Roommates.com doesn't OWN the property.

Roommates.com will advertise for BOTH preferences; not singling out one gender.

Roommates.com does not receive any $$ directly from the tenancy.

Even patrons using the site aren't usually the landlords, although I'm sure you have a few homeowners that want to save on bills looking for a roommate. But they themselves LIVE there.

Roommates.com probably also has a really expensive team of lawyers. Do you want to take chances?

I'm a 23 yo trapped in the body of an old guy!

Sorry, I should clarify... I also don't think the landlord should be involved in this.

That being said, I still maintain that most now agree, after the 2012 ruling, that the landlord COULD advertise this way to help the roommates and not have a legal issue.

But, yes, I agree with no wanting to be the guinea pig on that either. :)

- John...

I don't care if you are are male or female-or even somewhere in between, straight or not, old or not, Catholic or Hindu...... What I am concerned about is your payment (credit) history, your rental history, if you have a history of violent crimes and if you have qualifying income.

Beyond any of these qualifiers, I feel like someone is telling me too much. Normally if someone is telling you too much, they are doing so to cover up something else that they might not be forthright with.

Had someone ranting yesterday on about there mom having stage 4 cancer. He went on for about 15 minutes.....and that is horrible news. He was so busy with that rant he forgot to mention the DUI and two drunken brawls he was in this past couple of years.