For the past 27 years, I have been on the landlord side of the landlord-tenant relationship managing properties of all sizes and types.
I’ve signed more than 400 property management contracts in that time. I am also a 52 year old white male. Most of the landlords I’ve met have been white as well.
Curiously, not once while sitting across the table from me has one of them even hinted that a certain class of people should be excluded or steered away from their building. Not once. They just want their investment in the property to work for them.
If that’s the case, then how and why does discrimination happen and why do we need laws to address it?
The answer is that discrimination is best understood by acknowledging the built-in imbalance of power inherent in the landlord-tenant relationship.
Being in the shelter business and setting the terms of how someone is to live their life — a right that a landlord often feels they earned the day they bought the property — sets the table for that imbalance of power.
Once landlords embrace that reality, they realize that it will take action on their part in order for tenants to feel a sense of balance.
That usually comes in the form of fair enforcement of the rules, communicating with respect but clarity when an issue comes up, and reacting to late rent with a firmness which also recognizes that even good people fall onto bad times now that then.
How we talk about the vacant unit we are showing, how we describe our property to prospective renters and neighbors, how we handle the screening process, the language we use, and so much more are affected by a change in thinking about this power imbalance.
I recall renting an apartment to a young immigrant family years ago who damaged the unit’s stove by trying to fry a fresh fish on the burner without using a frying pan.
My reaction could have crossed a line had I not paused long enough to learn they had never seen a stove or used electricity in their home country and were used to cooking on open flames. That wasn’t a race or national origin issue, it turns out, that was simply about educating them on how to use a stove.
The wrong reaction might have had them believing I had an issue with their national origin or refugee status and found me in the middle of defending myself from something I wasn’t even thinking.
Landlords or those considering investing in rental properties are well advised to embrace this reality, imagine walking in their tenant’s shoes a bit, reflect back on when they rented and how they viewed their landlord, then change the way they approach the business of providing shelter in an attempt to bring dignity and balance to the relationship.
It won’t guarantee that a discrimination action will never come their way, but it will reduce the risk and help everyone have a better experience.
Tom Hoban is CEO of The Coast Group of Companies. Contact him at 425-339-3638 or tomhoban@coastmgt.com or visit www.coastmgt.com. Twitter: @Tom_P_Hoban.
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