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Legal Question: Single Family Housing/Zoning

AnonymousDeac

AnonymousDeac

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Four friends and I have recently been searching for a house to rent and found a great place last week (5200 sq ft, huge yard/deck, etc.).

Realtor showed us the place twice (both times 4 of the 5 guys went to see the house). They told us to submit an application and we did that yesterday. They then came back to us and told us that the house is zoned for Single Family Housing, and thus 5 unrelated guys cannot live there.

Is this bullshit and thus discrimination? What if two gay males wanted to live together but weren't married? My guess is when the realtor told the owner that we are 5 guys in our mid-20s, the owner decided they didn't want to rent it to us and are using this as an excuse.
 
I've always heard this in relation to sorority houses and how they were against code because 5 or more unrelated women living together constituted a brothel. I do think there is often a rule about unrelated people living in a house zoned SFR.
 
Sounds like total BS, but zoning laws vary by municipality. Ask the realtor to show you where in the zoning code this is illegal. If she can't do it, push her to go back to the property owner. If that's actually the law, give her a hard time for wasting your time. Either way, find a new realtor.
 
does the owner not have the right to deny anybody for any reason (as long as it's not illegal)? seems to me that if he's responsible for all damage done to his place, he would have a right to deny renting to anybody he deemed a high risk to his property. generally groups of 20-something guys would fall into that "high risk" group.
 
i'd call the City of Richmond Zoning Department (or closest thing to it) and see if they can provide more explanations on the various types and restrictions for residential zoning
 
You could also just call the zoning department and ask them if it's allowed rather than trying to search through the ordinance. Either way, you're probably not getting this house because the owner doesn't want to rent it to you. Where the hell are you going to park five cars anyway? You're instantly going to have problems with your neighbors. You might want to split the gang up and go with three renters instead of five.
 
http://www.richmondgov.com/planninganddevelopmentreview/documents/IUsesPamphlet.pdf

Residential Uses
Single-family dwelling
Living together as a single housekeeping unit
and including any of the following:
(1) One or more persons related by blood,
marriage, legal guardianship or adoption,
including foster children;
(2) Not more than three unrelated persons or a
combination of related and unrelated persons;
(3) Two unrelated adults plus children related to
one or both adults by blood, marriage, legal
guardianship or adoption, including foster
children;
 
DeacHawk said:
http://www.richmondgov.com/planninganddevelopmentreview/documents/IUsesPamphlet.pdf

Residential Uses
Single-family dwelling
Living together as a single housekeeping unit
and including any of the following:
(1) One or more persons related by blood,
marriage, legal guardianship or adoption,
including foster children;
(2) Not more than three unrelated persons or a
combination of related and unrelated persons;
(3) Two unrelated adults plus children related to
one or both adults by blood, marriage, legal
guardianship or adoption, including foster
children;
Click to expand...

There you go. Fire your realtor for wasting your time.
 
To be fair, I wouldn't rent my 1200 SF bungalow to 5 guys, much less a 5200 SF (presumably much nicer) house. Your beef is definitely with your real estate agent for 1) not knowing the law and 2) presenting you with options that were unlikely no matter what the law says. The rental market is strong right now...landlords can be choosy. I just had 5 different applicants pay fees for a credit/background check after relisting our rental for a couple days, and 20+ inquiries. A 5200 SF house landlord is looking for an executive to rent to. Most real estate agents are morons when it comes to renting because they've never had to work with rental clients in the boom economy they became agents in.
 
Well said, Racer. No way I'd rent to five dudes.
 
This is pretty common and also applies for Winston. It stems from old brothel laws plus the desire to not overcrowd a house or create unwanted boarding houses.
 
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