Apartment hunters hate 'steering' law

Q: My wife and I are elderly and have trouble negotiating stairs. Partly for that reason, we decided to sell our home and rent a place on one level.

We looked at a really nice apartment complex, and asked to be shown only units without stairs. The leasing agent insisted that "the law required" that she show us all available units, which included some with second stories. This wasted our time, was tiring, and made us think that management at this place doesn't know what they're doing. Are we missing something here? --Dottie and Dan M.

A: The leasing agent you encountered is bending over backwards to avoid a charge of "steering." Steering is the term that describes the illegal practice of showing persons of a certain race, ethnicity, sex or other protected class only a certain section of the building or property. In its most insidious form, steering involves sending black prospects to the rear of the building, or prospects with families to an isolated area (or to an area that's set aside for them), and so on.

Steering can also occur when agents think they know where a tenant will be most comfortable, and show the tenant only that unit (for example, an agent might assume that a blind person would be better off on the ground floor, and might show him those units only). Whether insidious or well intentioned, steering is the rental equivalent of "go to the back of the bus."

But what happens when a prospect clearly asks to be shown only units that are near, for example, other families with children? Or who, like you, wants to be on the ground floor? Because leasing agents are trained never to segregate prospects, they will hesitate. They may be afraid that you're setting them up -- asking for a certain location or type of rental, but planning to turn around and cry foul when they comply with your request. To avoid this remote possibility, they take the rigid stance of insisting that you view all available units.

But surely there's a common-sense, middle ground here. Your agent could have listed the available units on the form or card that most agents keep when they interview prospects, and he might have asked you to circle the ones you wanted to see, and to initial the list. This would be good evidence in his favor should he need to prove that he offered you the complete range of vacancies, and you chose the units that interested you.

Q: The tenants who lease my single-family home have become "ham radio" enthusiasts. Without asking me, they erected an antenna in the backyard. It's unsightly and, according to neighbors, emits an annoying noise that disrupts their sleep. The tenants claim that under federal law, they're entitled to erect what they need to get reception. Is this true? --Bob C. ...CONTINUED

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