I am trying to move out of my apartment, because the building was broken into last week. The landlord said that the windows were safe, but that he was going to put extra security on them anyway. Not only did he not do this, but he also left the window unlocked after he examined them. Also, he believes that people in the neighboring building are responsible because the only way to reach my window is from their fire escape. I want to get out of my lease, but I realize I really have no rights, so I offered to find someone to take my place. The landlord was okay with this until he met the tenants I sent to look at the apartment. One of the tenants was of a different race than myself and the landlord and he stated that he didn't want "those type of people" living in this building. Is there anything I can do about this? I certainly do not want to help him if he is going to discriminate against certain people like this, but I really don't feel safe in the apartment anymore. This is going to make it very hard for me to find a new tenant. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I could or should do?

[sunlover]

The alledged race issue is not yours to argue. The applicant must take up this issue. Now you are bound by terms of lease. If Landlord agrees to allow someone else step into your lease great, but that tenant must meet all requirements!

I have to agree with Sunlover. That person needs to submit a completed application to the LL for review and screening. Without doing this, there can be no question at all of discimination since it is impossible to discriminate against someone who never applied for the unit. Advise them to fill out the application and then they should contact the LL after a few days to see if they were qualified. They need to meet the LL's qualifications for tenants based on income, rental history, criminal and civil background checks, credit report, etc. The qualifications must be business related and not discriminatory. If they feel they have been discriminated against after they have completed the application, they can contact 1-800-669-9777 to file a complaint.

In the meantime, you need to continue to honor your lease. The LL is not responsible for crime in the neighborhood. Continue to look for and bring in other qualified applicants to take over your lease. Their race should not be an issue.