[nagdu] Tenant Rights

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Heather,

Yikes!  I have nothing useful to offer on the legal or even practical end,
but I am so sorry you are having to go through this.  Here in Oregon,
landlords can't get away with discrimation on the front end like that, but I
did learn the hard way that they can (and will!) go outside the law in
making one's life miserable if they didn't really want you in the first
place.  Well, the management company of the apartment complex where I
learned these lessons is just nasty to tenants to begin with, and most of
their managers are awful in ways that are specifically designated against in
the law.  So while trying to deal with the grief from my apartment manager,
I talked to a higher up in the country and he's a (expletive deleted; insert
profanity here).  I ended up only kinda sorta winning in court (it was very
confusing, for my eog, at least), and finally moved to what I thought would
be a really much inferior existence only it worked out really well in the
end.  Isn't life just weird that way?

Anyway, I have had a really hard time not being disgusted with myself for
not fighting harder and better and longer at the time, but I just had
nothing left and needed to take care of me and all that stuff.  Ugh!  But I
learned some hard, yet important lessons there.  Also, I got some idea of
how to distinguish between actual discrimination (which was happening) vs.
just plain equal-opportunity obnoxiousness (which was also happening).
Again:  Ugh!
 
Still, I empathize with your frustration, and it sounds like you're facing a
really ugly housing market, as I was when I moved in there and more so when
I was looking to move out.  It's very scary, and I wish you well in finding
a place that's right for you.

Good luck with the legal end, too, if you do have a case against this woman.
As someone mentioned, here there is a difference between a duplex and a
larger apartment complex.  So she would be legal here, whether or not she's
just a rotten person.  /smile/  B.C. could be different.

Let us know how it goes!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Heather Hutchison
Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 2:24 PM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] Tenant Rights

Hi all,

My apologies if this isn't allowed because I live in British Columbia,  
Canada, but I was wondering if I could get some general input on what  
to do about being discriminated against due to the presence of my  
guide dog in applying for a rental unit.

An acquaintance of my boyfriend was moving out of her apartment and we  
decided it would be a great area and a perfect place for us to live  
in, so we contacted the landlords (a husband and wife) to set up a  
viewing (we've seen the place before, but to do it officially). She  
set up a time the next morning for us to come and view the suite. My  
boyfriend mentioned the fact that I have a guide dog (not as a  
question of if it would be alright, but simply to state a fact) and  
everything changed. She said she would have to check with her husband  
and quickly hung up. She called back and left a message specifically  
stating that because there was another dog on the premises (these are  
completely separate units though) that because of my dog, we would not  
be considered to rent the suite. We have kept this message. We called  
her to try and explain the law (the guide animal act of British  
Columbia states that it is illegal to discriminate against a person  
with a disability because of their intent to keep a service animal in  
the rental unit unless sleeping, cooking or bathroom facilities are  
shared) but she would not listen. She put her husband on the phone and  
he proceeded to be incredibly rude, screaming that they did not have  
to accept a guide dog, essentially that the law was wrong. He said  
they weren't even having viewings (which is incorrect because we had  
previously had an appointment for that same day until they found out  
about my dog). He then said we could come look at it if we really  
wanted but that we wouldn't get it anyways. He said they were being  
threatened when we said we would take legal action. One last time we  
tried to read him the act, but he hung up in the middle of it.

What should I do? I am having a very difficult time finding a place to  
live (I've heard every excuse in the book) and I'm tired of people  
blatantly ignoring the law. It is very difficult to find pet friendly  
suites in Vancouver and they are almost impossible to get into because  
they are in such high demand. I filled out a human rights complaint  
but have not sent it yet. Anything else I should do? Should I pursue  
this?

Thank you very much in advance for any input you might have.

Heather with Bibby

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