Have a unit that is small one bedroom. Someone came and looked at it today and said it would be perfect for her sister. I guess the sister is legally blind, SSI, food stamps and no garnishable income. I did say she would need a cosigner and they had no problem with that. Assuming the apps do get returned and approved, is there anything to be concerned about here? I've really never rented to someone blind before and not sure how to do the lease if they can't read it to sign it? Thanks in advance for your help!

Co-signer will be the key to many things in this relationship. I do not discriminate based on disability, but I do wonder how some issues work. My church has a "Blind Ministry" and one of the cardinal rules we learn right away is "don't move stuff around."

New house/rental is going to take some getting use to until the location of things are memorized. Basic stuff like stairs, "step ups", faucets, shut offs, etc.

Here's one area I wonder about: I know we can't discriminate based on disability and have to provide reasonable accommodations. Okay, I'm fine with that and fully support ADA and FHA.

But what if a person is not physically able to do some BASIC things like shut off water in an emergency (can't find or can't reach the shut off), adjust a t-stat with push buttons, turns the knob on the water heater up too high because it has no kind of label a blind person could read and scalds themselves, etc? Or what if a deaf person cannot not hear a pipe burst in the crawl space that ends up flooding the neighborhood and filling the area under the house with mold, and now they're pissed they have a $2000 water bill? Am I required to drive by their house during every day when there's freezing weather to check their pipes?

Depending on the totality of their disability, they may have someone checking on them on a regular basis.

On the other hand, I know someone who is legally blind, but can still see some. She has never driven, can only see a screen if fully zoomed in and still uses a magnifying glass to read it. She would have no issue with Sid's concern, though.

If they are so disabled that they can't manage, they will have a caretaker is my thought.

As for the lease, I'm with Sisco, video it all, have a witness that isn't related to either of you. That is a good CYA.

When I advertised units in my building for rent, I stated that the square footage was approximately 700 square feet for the 1 bedroom and around 975 square feet for a two bedroom.

Personally, I would have cut this off before the sister came to see it.

Try to get in the habit of saying "we don't do 3rd party placements".

I know it sounds bad to say that they need to see it themselves in this case, but they do.

Will she need a support animal?

I really don't see the problem. (Although Sid raises some interesting thoughts)

It seems like some of you try to find trouble where there may not be any.

People with disabilities like this can function perfectly independently and responsibly - or not - just like anyone else. There is no need to judge this (any) person by their disability. Judge them by the same standards you judge every other applicant. This is why the ADA was enacted - because of unfair discrimination that some of you seem to propose. I would think if a responsible person who happens to have a disability finds a landlord who treats them fairly, they may be a stable, long-term tenant.

In regards to JenZ's post, you shouldn't have to pay for any ADA compliance. (Not sure what blind folks would need anyway as far as modification.)

Thank you all for the responses. Definitely things to ponder. Sid - as always, interesting points.

David... I follow that practice as well except for one dinky little apartment I have on a double lot next to a house that has proven consistently stubborn to W-2 renters.

But now I wonder... Could a disabled person require you to accept their income as a "modification" to your normal requirements and cite ADA?

I realize that source of income isn't a protected class per se, but if the nature of a person's disability is such that their income no longer comes from W-2, can someone who claim the discrimination against their source of income is actually discrimination due to their disability which affects their income? Basically claiming that it amounts to the same thing. Disability = disability income = you cannot discriminate based on a disability.

Legally blind doesn't necessarily mean that they can't see. It's just that they may need assistance.

I have two tenants (currently) that are legally blind. They are the best tenants I've ever had. Yes they are long term.

One lives in a very small house that is PERFECT for one person. She use to live in a room at a house at another property (not ours). Got tired of the person that lived in the house asking her what she was doing up at certain times of the day/night and thought it would be better if she could find her own place. She has a job and pays on time every month with no issues what so ever. Now because it was a house and typically on SFH we make the tenant responsible for the lawn, snow removal, etc. On this one (and because she is there by herself) we take care of it. Awesome tenant. Most likely she will never move.

Another one we have is also a long term and has a job. Also in a SFH BUT - has family living with her. They pay on time no issues. Place is clean. Because the family lives there they are responsible for snow and lawn, etc. However I do have to "remind" them from time to time to either clean the sidewalks or mow the lawn (mainly because the teenage kids don't do it and think they can "get away" with it because Mom can't really "see" - in my opinion).

Prior to the family in the SFH we had another "legally blind" person in the property. They were the WORST TENANTS I've ever had (ok, maybe not the worst but right up there). They didn't last a year and we had to evict after they decided to not pay and thought they knew the system better than we did and we couldn't evict them (they had "everyone" helping them during the court case - Catholic Charities, Legal Aid, etc). They lost, but we still had to physically remove them from the property. I "bought" their sob story and wanted to help out. I did do a home visit but really only saw the kitchen.

Doogie,

Point of clarification: Source of income is a protected class in many states and/or added by many cities.

Adding a W2 signer would be MY justification of REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION if challenged. Fortunately in my state and my town, source of income is NOT a protected class.

Side note: We still have some residents on SSI and disability from before we made our rule. One by one they are failing to pay and we're paying the price for accepting them!

"Legally blind" does not mean they cannot see, just that they cannot see well enough to pass certain tests such as driving.

I don't mind 3rd party showings with an app and a legit situation. We get folks trying to move back to our town and military families. Our video walk thrus have greatly reduced this need.

We had a deaf family that recruited a few other deaf families into our homes. They were very thankful that I was patient with them during application, etc. Pre-texting and pre-email we communicated by a special operator acting as interpreter who typed everything I said. They saw it on a special screen. Now there is Captel.

Apparently many LLs were not interested. They stayed for years.

In Home Visit for sure! Years ago I had a blind friend who was a total slob. They say the sense of smell increases but I think this guy's nose went blind too!

Good discussion!

BRAD

For a blind person, NE you could get into trouble not allowing a 3rd party to assist or placement. It would be considered a reasonable accommodation to do so. To deny on that basis could go against Fair Housing.

Reasonable accommodation also includes certain Financial accommodations including source of their income. Do not strictly deny because of their source of income. That could also get you in trouble with Fair Housing.

Brad - I do know source of income is protected in some areas. Not sure it is here, but don't think so. The cosigner was required because her amount was $100 more than the rent. This would not qualify anyone under my guidelines.

You cannot discriminate on the basis of disability and this means you can't require the person to "see" the house, though you can request the person visit, of course. Can't do that, NE.

I guess the prospect did not see himself living there:)

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I'll leave now.

BRAD

Doggie, as I read your description of the showing I got this feeling that it could have been a fair housing test. Your saying that you never heard back reinforces this idea.

We’ve twice had people interested in our first floor apartment who came looking for there “mother’s” who are in wheelchairs. Extensive discussion about what accommodations would be needed for the mother. Never heard back on either occasion. And the black family purportedly moving from an area of the state that probably had not ever had a black resident.

I had a great blind resident. He worked at the local university. He had a phone with voice recognition and translation before they were common. He also had a device that could read documents and other printed material and translate it into speech.

The only problem was that the place was dirtier than I might have liked. I figured that he just couldn't see the dirt. He DID remove all of his belongings. The dirt was no worse than that left by many of my sighted resident.

I would be delighted to rent to hi again.

tread carefully denying anyone with a disability...ESPECIALLY a real one like blindness. they are the most legit of service dog users. if their income is permanent disability they are likely a good risk. most will have adaptive assistive technology and help with contracts and such.