Racism is a topic we try very hard to ignore, but unfortunately, it’s out there — sometimes right next door, as this article shows. It is a difficult dilemma. The question is, how would you handle it?
Rent it Right — Q and A from AAOA (American Apartment Owners Association)
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.