Is Landlord Liable for Racist Tenant?

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Does racism threat justify lease breaking?

Rent it Right

by Janet Portman, Inman News

Q: We live in a multifamily community whose management assures us that they take their screening duties very seriously (the result, perhaps, of a crime committed by a resident a couple of years ago).

They claim that they hire a screening company, that they check “every legitimate source” of information on an applicant. We know they look on the Internet — when the manager gave us the keys, he complimented us on the photos on our family Facebook page!

But the guy who moved in next door must not have been screened — his blog goes back years, filled with racist rants. As members of one of the races whom he hates, we feel very uncomfortable living near him, and would like to break our lease and move.

Can we do so legally? –Bill and Janelle P.

A: Tenants may break their leases and leave when the landlord fails to honor explicit, important promises made before the lease was signed. For example, a promise made during a tour that the pool will be up and running by summer is one that the landlord must keep or risk losing his lease-holding tenants to whom the pool was a real deal-breaker. The reason is straightforward: When the promise concerns a significant matter, and the tenant relies on that promise in deciding to rent the property, the promise becomes part of the deal. The landlord’s failure to deliver on the promise constitutes a breach of the lease, enabling the tenant to walk away.

Let’s assume that management did not look up your neighbor on the Internet (from what you’ve told us, it’s unclear whether they consulted the Web or not). Is an applicant’s blog one of the “legitimate sources” that management promised they’d check? You could make a good case that it is — that the contents are a sort of “super application” that gives landlords added information about their applicants. Written by the applicant himself, the contents are surely “legitimate.”

This is not to say that every landlord must check online for blogs and posts. But once a landlord says that he will cast a very wide net, however, that arguably becomes the kind of promise that must be kept.

Although we may have answered your stated question, a thornier one lies beneath. Suppose the landlord actually did see your neighbor’s racist blog (or would have seen it had he looked)? There’s no question that he could have rejected this applicant on this basis alone, without fear of fair housing repercussions, because posters of racist rants are not a “protected class” under fair housing laws. But what about the next question: Would he be obligated to turn this person away? In other words, once a landlord learns that an applicant has such beliefs, is he legally required to reject him?

The answer is probably no, as long as the applicant has a track record of paying the rent on time, treating property and neighbors respectfully, and showing no signs of allowing his below-the-surface bigotry to surface in antisocial behavior. Some landlords might consider his racist beliefs to be irrelevant, as long as he acts the model tenant.

Likewise, if your new neighbor does not cause problems by using racist language or epithets, your landlord would have very little on which to base a termination or eviction. And for this reason, you might have a hard time justifying breaking your lease. In the context of this question, breaking a lease without responsibility for the balance requires that you point to a dangerous or illegal situation on the property that the landlord has failed to remedy. Your neighbor’s abhorrent beliefs alone, without resulting acts, may not give you the reason you need.

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