Hunting for a Rental: Obtacles Can Multiply

Kim Abbott has kept a record of the apartments and houses she and her husband have looked at to rent. Here are some situations they encountered:

- The landlord of a three-bedroom Anaheim house was prepared to rent to Kim Abbott--until her 6-year-old son Jeremiah “popped out of the car. He (the landlord) says, ‘No way. A boy destroys things.’ ”

Said David Quezada, executive director of the Fair Housing Council of Orange County: “That would be actionable on grounds of unlawful discrimination under California law.”

- The landlord of a three-bedroom duplex in Costa Mesa told the Abbotts that he would rent only to two children and two adults.

Said Quezada: “That occupancy standard would merit investigation on discrimination grounds.”

- Some landlords have told the Abbotts that they cannot have children of the opposite sex living in the same bedroom.

Said Quezada: “This applies only within the framework of federally subsidized rents when the children reach a certain age. State law has no provision that would bar it.”

- The landlord of a $600-a-month condominium wanted two co-signers who have known the Abbotts for at least a year. The woman also required that the co-signers must have been on their jobs for 1 1/2 years, and, Kim Abbott said, “she wanted to run credit checks on the co-signers.”

Said Quezada: Landlords may run a credit check on the co-signer. “The problem was, this particular landlord seemed to be putting up so many obstacles it makes it virtually impossible to continue with all those requirements.”

- The Abbotts were turned down for an apartment by a landlord who said each child has to have 70 square feet of living space.

Said Quezada: Some cities, such as Santa Ana, have been using uniform building code guidelines as a housing requirement to address the problem of overcrowding. The building code states that one person in a room should have no less than 70 square feet of space and each person thereafter should have a minimum of 50 square feet of space.

Such a practice would be justified in cities that have overcrowding ordinances, he added, “although the ordinances themselves may be challenged if applied in a discriminatory manner.”