Experiences as Landlords? Any Big Fat Hairy Legal Issues I need to worry about?

[Gfactor]

@elmwood

Really? I see a lot of ads that say “No Section 8”. I know newspapers won’t publish ads that are considered discriminatory or illegal (“Whites only”, Christian tenant wanted", “No children” etc), but … really, I can’t turn someone down if they’ve got a Section 8 subsidy?

The reason I’m asking is because I may be leaving Cleveland soon, but I can’t sell my house - thus, gotta’ rent it out. (I’m either going to hire a property management firm, or pay my willing next door neighbors to manage the property.) It’s an inner ring suburb not far removed from a poor inner city neighborhood where practically every renter is Section 8 or gets some kind of subsidy.

It depends on the jurisdiction. Some jurisdictions allow landlords to refuse to accept housing voucher recipients as tenants. Others do not. http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9249908#post9249908

As for Annie-Xmas’s advice, try a thought experiment: substitue black for Section 8 voucher recipient. Could I refuse a lease to a black applicant and avoid liability with a pretext? The answer is no. I’m not going to bother with a cite. In both cases I might get away with it unless somebody did a careful study of my practices, but that doesn’t mean it is legal.