Housing Discrimination Due to Military Status

[GA Peach]

What is the name of your state? Georgia
My daughter serves in the Marine Corps Reserves and also attends college. She was paying for her apartment every month (on time) while out for the semester during both non-military and military time. Yesterday she went to renew her lease and was told that her room had been "pre-leased" to someone else. Today when we spoke with the property manager, the property manager stated that my daughter needed to have renewed the lease by 4/31. I asked if she had notified daughter in any way to let her know this. She admitted that she did not call daughter, but had put up "flyers" around the apt complex. We reminded her that my daughter was not at the complex during the times these alleged flyers were not up and property mgr admitted they did not contact daughter on any of the contact numbers listed nor did they call me, the guarantor listed on the apt. During the conversation, the property mgr asked "is there a chance that she will get transferred to someplace else or sent to Iraq" because she didn't "want to lose renting the room to someone who would potentially be here the full lease year". I asked her to be very careful and sure about what she was saying because it was my belief that she should not be basing my daughter's military service against her in determining whether or not she was going to honor the lease agreement my daughter has as well as allow my daughter to renew. We had a long discussion about my concerns about her statement. She said that the military service "wouldn't be the only thing" and that she would still call around to see if any of the people she "pre-leased" apartments to would be willing to move into a smaller room and allow my daughter to remain in the room she has been leasing for two years. She also stated that the room had not been assigned to anyone yet, but refused to allow my daughter to sign a renewal lease so that we would have something in writing acknowleding my daughter's intent to remain in the apt in the same room as opposed to moving all of her furniture to a smaller room in the apt. The other two rooms in the apt are vacant, so we suggested that she offer the smaller rooms to someone that had not shown up yet and was not already living in the apt. Again, she said referencing my daughter's potential for deployment was not discrimination. I disagree. What can we do?

 

[Hot Topic]

Your daughter should have known that her lease was about to expire. It was her responsibility to review the clause regarding renewal or to check with management. As you said, she was out for the college semester "during" non-military time as well as military time.

Since not everyone's lease expires at the same time, it's reasonable to believe that everyone at one time or another would have had the opportunity to see the flyer. Do you have the timeframe for when the flyers were posted? Did your daughter leave word with the landlord that she was going to be out? For how long?

Sounds like your landlord is trying to provide options for your daughter, even though she missed the renewal deadline.

It wouldn't matter if your daughter had signed a lease, then was out of the apartment half the year as long as the landlord had your guarantee that the rent would be paid.

 

[Hot Topic]

Correction: "Options" isn't the right word to use when the landlord is going to call around to see if people she pre-leased to will accept smaller rooms so that your daughter can stay where she is. At least she'll be making an effort on your daughter's behalf.

Sounds like there could be some other problems with your daughter's tenancy if military service "wouldn't be the only thing." You might want to get some feedback on that from your daughter.

Military service isn't the problem. The fact that your daughter's lease was expiring, and she didn't do anything about it is.

 

[Who's Liable?]

A LL does not need to give a reason to refuse to renew a lease. It is solely their discretion on renew or not renew a lease.

 

[Cvillecpm]

Mom - MILITARY is not a protected class and you do your daughter a disservice by talking to her landlord is a disrespectful way.

"...I asked her to be very careful and sure about what she was saying because it was my belief that she should not be basing my daughter's military service against her in determining whether or not she was going to honor the lease agreement my daughter has as well as allow my daughter to renew."

Daughter/Tenant missed up by not contacting the landlord earlier than 4/30 and early pre-leasing in college housing is NOTORIOUS. You BOTH should have been aware of the situation and your daughter should not be allowing you to "fight her battles" on this or any issue. If she is still "in country" she needs to be contacting landlord DIRECTLY about her options.

 

[GA Peach]

Response to Feedback

I need to clarify just a few things.
1. My daughter's lease indicates she only needs to give a 60 day notice if she is not going to renew the lease, so she did meet the timeframe.

2. At no point in time was I disrespectful to the property manager regardless of her overtly distate to rent to anyone in the military. If my daughter does get shipped out to Iraq, the least of my worries will be whether or not she has to break her lease.

3. The "other" reasons had nothing to do with my dauther as a tenant. She has been a good tenant and pays on time. The reason she said that it would not be the only thing is so that she could get off the hook for making the statement regarding military service to begin with. There are no negative references to my daughter's tenancy in any of the records. She doesn't even own a stereo and isn't a party girl. She's a Marine and very disciplined. Always has been.

4. As far as we "should have known"...how is it that you are supposed to know something that no one tells you about? It is not in the lease agreement. If they wanted to up the date, then they should have informed her either in writing or with a phone call. They admitted that they did neither of those things. She would have had to be on the property to hear anything about it at all, and she was not. Also, she called into the rental property every single month to pay the rent. They knew she was gone. I also called into the rental office to see about paying an early release to get out of the lease, so there were definitely discussions about her status.

5. As for fighting daughter's battles...she did contact the property manager directly and was on the phone when I was speaking to the property manager as well. Also, my name is also on the lease as the guarantor, so I have every right to be concerned about what is happening with the apartment. Lastly, parenting is not a contact that has an end date. I will be her mother always and will defend her as I see fit. She is not an angel. She just did what she knew to do and was informed to do, per her lease agreement.

6. I take it that no one responding to this posting is in the military. I thought it was to discuss legal issues, not just unload. If there is a legal statute or something someone has to offer, then by all means share it. Otherwise, please skip the editorials about who should have known and could have known. If you read everything, you would see that she did call in and check in every month. The property manager admits that no one informed her. They had her contact information as well as mine. My biggest issue is that if there is nothing wrong with basing housing decisions on military service, then that in itself should be a crime.

Thanks to all for your "HELP" and sound "Legal Advice". Kind of hard to get to it with all the editorializing and finger pointing. A simple, "there are no legal remedies available to you" would have sufficed.

 

[Cvillecpm]

OP wrote...."We had a long discussion about my concerns about her statement".

I'm going to suggest at no time during this long discussion did you apologize and attempt to make the situation BETTER for your daughter. If the PM had made a mistake, your being NICE would have gone a LONG WAY toward making the PM acknowledge the mistake and assisting your daughter to remain at the property. The NANO SECOND you mentioned her treatment of the military residents as DISCRIMINATORY, she was on the defensive which will not benefit your daughter.

You might consider the flies/sugar v vinegar scenario when attempting to assist your daughter.

 

[Fl_renter]

I take it that no one responding to this posting is in the military.

FWIW (for what it's worth), A landlord doesn't need a reason to not renew and all they have to do to if you try to prove discrimination, is to find another reason not related to her service.

That said, I know Fl has a law about discrimination against military so you may be able to find something similar in Ga.

Florida Statute prohibits landlords from discrimination against service members: Florida Statute 83.67 prohibits a landlord from discriminating against members of the Armed Forces in offering a dwelling unit for rent or in any other terms of a rental agreement. If you are told by a prospective landlord that he/she does not wish to rent to a military member or that he/she expects you to pay more or agree to greater liability than other tenants merely due to your military affiliation they are in violation of Florida law. The landlord who violates this section is liable to the tenant for actual and consequential damages or 3 months rent whichever is greater and costs including attorneys’ fees.

 

[Hot Topic]

{Quote}My daughter's lease indicates she only needs to give a 60 day notice if she is not going to renew the lease, so she did meet the timeframe.{Unquote}

You go on to ask how you could have known about (the expiration of) the lease when no one told you about it. According to you, GA Peach, "It is not in the lease agreement."

You say you called the office to see about getting an early release to get out of the lease. That's doesn't jibe with your outrage over your daughter possibly losing her room.

 

[CA LL]

I'm with Hot Topic..too many discrepancies based on what you have posted. Remember no one here has all of the info and can only base input on what you post..and I must admit it is somewhat difficult to follow.

I am confused as to whether your daughter wanted to remain or not since you actually called and asked about breaking the lease.

While you may be the guarantor..I'm not sure you've "helped" your daughter in this situation at all..quite the opposite.

I missed when the actual lease was set to expire.

 

[PghREA]

QUOTE: I also called into the rental office to see about paying an early release to get out of the lease, so there were definitely discussions about her status.


The property manager probably got the idea your daughter was not going to renew the lease from this action.

 

[Hot Topic]

I'm not sure that the Florida Statute would apply to this situation since the daughter was already a tenant; therefore she had not been refused tenancy because of her military status, and there was no mention in the original post of her having to pay more to live there or to accept greater liability than other tenants.

The daughter could have written management a letter reminding them of military obligations that could keep her away for days or months and confirming that she wanted to keep her room when her lease expired. With a copy of that in hand, she would have had ammunition to use when she was informed that the room had been pre-leased. It's what she can prove as opposed to what she and her mother claim the management knew.

 

[Alaska landlord]

I asked her to be very careful and sure about what she was saying because it was my belief that she should not be basing my daughter's military service against her in determining whether or not she was going to honor the lease agreement my daughter has as well as allow my daughter to renew. We had a long discussion about my concerns about her statement.

This is an automatic alert for a litigation crazy tenant and I would have found a way to rid myself of you and your daughter. Lecturing your landlord didn’t help your daughter one Iota.


If you or your daughter would have read the lease you should have known as Hot Topic has suggested that it was about to expire. The landlord does not have to babysit his tenants. Calling the landlord about other matters is nice, but don’t expect the landlord to dig up a tenants lease and to check for its expiration anytime the tenant calls. You want to help your daughter, then counsel her. Fighting her battles for her is not helping her accept responsibility. She screwed up, now she has to accept what is being offered or move on.

 

[Tired vet]

Protected Status

Being a member of the Armed Forces of the United States is a protected class. Contrary to a previous post.
The Soldiers and Sailors Act was designed and enacted by congress to prevent discrimination against service members, PARTICULARLY the reserve components, and before anyone tries to tell you differently the document despite it's title is for all service members.

It makes it unlawful to discriminate against an individual based in part or in whole upon their military service. This means just being a member and includes any potential risks of deployment. You would have to bear the burden of proving that to be the case, however.

Areas of protection your daughter should be aware of as well as any dependents she may have, probably will include the following

Interest rate caps for deployed service members. Military service clauses attached to the lease. Suspension of certain contracts to be reenacted after return from extended duties, rent controls if she is called to active duty. Contact your local Veterans Affairs office for legal advice, or your daughters Administrative NCO or Company Commander.

 

[PghREA]

Being a member of the Armed Forces of the United States is a protected class. Contrary to a previous post.
The Soldiers and Sailors Act was designed and enacted by congress to prevent discrimination against service members, PARTICULARLY the reserve components, and before anyone tries to tell you differently the document despite it's title is for all service members.

It makes it unlawful to discriminate against an individual based in part or in whole upon their military service. This means just being a member and includes any potential risks of deployment. You would have to bear the burden of proving that to be the case, however.

Areas of protection your daughter should be aware of as well as any dependents she may have, probably will include the following

Interest rate caps for deployed service members. Military service clauses attached to the lease. Suspension of certain contracts to be reenacted after return from extended duties, rent controls if she is called to active duty. Contact your local Veterans Affairs office for legal advice, or your daughters Administrative NCO or Company Commander.

But nowhere in the act does it say that a landlord MUST hold an apartment for someone when their lease is up especially since that person never said that she wanted to renew the lease and especially if the mother of that person called to try to get an early release from the lease. From the facts we have so far, the girl is not being discriminated against for being in the military.