Comments on: Suit against Craigslist claims discriminatory ads

A fair-housing group sues over housing ads on Craiglist's Chicago site that contained phrases such as "no minorities."

[inachu]

This is so stupid.

Lets say an old chinese lady in chinatown NYC wants to only rent to chinese speaking but since the law enactd she now has to rent her room to some 400 pound stranger?

That means a Pastor must rent to a Satanist?
This is a very very stupid law.

A renter has every right to screen users out and Human resources do it all the time.

Sorry someone with better qualifications filled the job we with you luck in your endevours.

Renters have every right to deny illegal aliens.

[sanenazok]

Federal Exceptions

There are exceptions to rental equality, based on the number of apartments (less than 5 I think), and whether the owner occupies one of them. That's on the federal level, states and cities do whatever they want. For example I think that Ann Arbor bans all sex orientation discrimination, even for roommates, but I'm not sure.

[alvester]

Is it stupid?

Here's another scenario:

A dude is an African-America citizen of the US with a job that pays around $50,000 a year, has a FICO score of 730 (excellent credit) and no criminal record. So is he, as a minority not allowed to rent or buy where he chooses? Is it OK to advertise a house or rental that says he need not apply solely and simply because he is African American?

I don't think so and I think this is why we have the Fair Housing Act.

"Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents of legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and handicap (disability)."

[Hernys]

No minorities?

You mean no WASPs?

[pch4101]

Re: No minorities?

>You mean no WASPs?

Caucasians are still the majority (at least 225 million strong):

"Nationally, the country's white population increased 7.3 percent between 1990 and 1999 to 224.6 million"

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/08/30/minority.population/

Sorry I ruined your paranoid delusions.

[nicmart]

In the modern era

It is a truism that bigots are now much less of a social nuisance
than attorneys. No matter what one thinks of racists -- and I
happen to think they are moral sludge -- the right to property
should allow one to rent to whomever one pleases, just as it allows
a renter to refuse to rent from a landlord he dislikes. If we have a
level playing field, why do we allow tenants to discriminate in
choosing from whom to rent?

[likes2comment]

Just run background criminal checks.

My landlord friend says 90% of the people asking to rent don't bother to apply when they are informed that a background criminal check (and wants/warrants) will be done at the sheriffs dept (free to property owners), along with a credit check and a house eviction check. Especially since he will not rent to anyone with a criminal record.

[devans00]

Social vs. Legal Discrimination

There's a difference between denying rental to someone based on legal reasons (illegal alien, criminal background) and social reasons (thinking you can tell someone's moral character by the color of their skin, beliefs or sexual orientation). This article was talking about the social discrimination.

At no point did anyone say that a landlord has to take anyone who shows up at their door. Anti-discrimination rules say that if a person is fully qualified by all the criteria that you set out, you may not reject them on the basis of social reasons.

[Thinkforachange]

Stop wasting time/$$ suring companies and let them do their good work

That Chicago public interest legal group has no basis for their suit. Come on, the article even says that Craigslist inform every1 that post housing ads about the housing anti-discrimination and provide a tool for people to report bad ads. What else u want Craiglist to do, baby every little thing. As far as i see it, it's fine as it is. If that public interest legal group wants to help protect people from discrimination, instead of wasting time/$$ on suing a company that has better things to do, and just go online themselves and patrol craigslist and report people.

Dont waste other people about something that isnt broke or trying to convince people that Craigslist is doing anything wrong.

[Broward Horne]

Hallmark of Craigslist Meme Peak

The Craigslist meme is peaking, so the honeymoon period is ending.

http://www.realmeme.com/roller/page/realmeme/?entry=craigslist_meme

Bad news about Craigslist was predictable enough that I generated this graph and commentary together in December in expectation.

[bemenaker]

Fair Housing Act doesn't apply

How does the fair housing act apply to craig's list? They are not the rental agency. They are simply online classified ads. The classifieds in the newspaper don't have to adhere to that law. Why is this any different. The rental agency itself has the responsibility to deal with the Fair Housing Act.

[jesdog]

Guess what!

The simple answer regarding newsprint is that, you're wrong.

They certainly can be subject to a cause of action for defamation. That's why they have lawyers to advise them regarding content and policy.

[alvester]

Yes it does apply.

The fair housing act covers classified ads. In this case the only difference is that it is online. This is a brief quote from the US government's web site devoted to the Fair Housing Act.

"Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents of legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and handicap (disability)."

[alvester]

The Fair Housing Act

"Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents of legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and handicap (disability)."

[boomtrek1]

Consumers are smarter

Anyone who has "ladies rent from me" do you thing a woman is going to respond to this ad? It's creepy. I wish they'd stop insulting us, the young generation is smart and savvy, our tolerance filters are much lower as well. Sue the individual, not craigslist!