> If I own a house, I can set my own criteria for choosing a tenant.
Ah, yes. That brings back memories.
When we were looking for an apartment close to our daughter's school, we
contacted a number of brokers in the area. One of them found a very nice
apartment for us after a couple of weeks. A well-maintained apartment in
just the location we wanted, at a very reasonable rent.
To our pleasant surprise, the owner didn't insist on a company lease, as
many people in this area do. He wanted to rent to a "small family" that
he could be sure would look after the place, since he lived in another
town. He didn't care what we did. He didn't ask if we were vegetarian or
not. He didn't seem to care what religion we subscribed to.
Shortly before the "sign on the dotted line" stage, the amiable landlord
casually mentioned that he had a "small condition". Apparently his wife
and he occasionally visited Delhi ("a few times a year"), and since we
were a small family (and why would we need all that space?), he wanted
to come and stay with us. To this end, he proposed to keep one bedroom
locked with some of his stuff stashed away inside.
Which one? The master bedroom with the attached bathroom.
The broker, to whom these conditions were also news, could see the
expressions on our faces while listening to this story, so he started
making frantic "don't worry, we'll deal with this" hand signals. They
tried. They explained to the gentleman that nobody would pay rent for a
three-bedroom apartment with only two bedrooms. They told him no "small
family" would agree to their conditions. They said that he could afford
to charge more rent, and offered to use the excess to rent a one-bedroom
apartment just down the road, in which he could stay whenever he wanted.
But nothing worked.
(I know, this is not in the same league as rejecting tenants based on
caste or religion. It's just batshit insane, so it's possible to laugh
about it now.)
-- ams
