Is it legal to deny renewal of lease due to "too many children in home" ?

[zimoss]

My wife I moved into a rental on May 27, 2010 in Tucson, AZ.

We are a licensed foster home and have been since 2008. When we looked at the house we revealed that and the rental agent stated that was not a problem with owner. the lease does state "me, wife, and son" to occupy residence and that we must notify leasing agent with notice of any additional kids.....we discussed the foster home aspect and we were told that was fine as long as we let the rental agent know when we adopt the children.

in the next 2 years we did complete a total of 2 adoptions (son that is listed + 1 both in 2011).... we now have additional placements in our home for a total of 2 adopted and 2 foster kids + me and wife = 6 total persons living in 3 bedroom home. the lease expired on 5-31-12 and prior to 5-25-12 we received a notice of addendum to add another year to lease. on 5-25-12 the rental agent did a walk-thru to check for water damage in the roof (this damage had occurred and been repaired prior to our tenancy) When she walked into our home, she stated that "wow you guys have a lot of stuff in here-- furniture, toys, etc." and that we had "too many things on the walls" (we have pictures of our kids and family hung using thumbtacks to minimize damage to wall). She then proceeded to tell us that the owner would not be happy seeing our home this way and that she was a minimalist and neat freak and she would be very unhappy about seeing our home in an unorganzed state and with evidence that we are living here (kids, hand prints on windows, spots on carpet, etc.) When she was here we also asked about what she was going to do about our oven not working.... she replied that she would send out an appliance company to asses/ repair as needed.

On Tuesday 5-29 the appliance company came out and said that the oven temps were off by at least 100 degrees or more and would need repairs/ replacement of control board-- $300+. We called rental agent with this info and she said while I have you on the phone I wanted to tell you that the owner is not happy with the house and that you have too many kids there and she is not going to re-sign our lease. (note that she signed the addendum for 1 year on 5-10-12 and we were to sign and then return with our rent on June 1st)

We got the certified letter on Thursday 5-30-12 and the reason for non-renewal was too many kids "not listed on lease/ didn't notify owner prior to walk-thru on 5-25-12". We have always been open about our adoption road and that we had kids and were a foster home and there were never any objections from either landlord or agent--- we did notify agent of both adoptions and she has seen our kids on several occasions so she was well aware of them and they were not as she claimed hidden from her.

the other issue is that there are minor cosmetic issues (spots on carpet, nicks in paint, thumb tack holes in walls, etc) that she stated we were "not to repair since it is on our lease that we must leave them and they repair at our cost (not in lease at all) --- my question here is can they force us to allow them to repair at our cost these minor repair / holes/ carpet cleaning, etc or can we perform the repairs prior to move-out?

[zimoss]

the rental agent also stated that she has discussed the oven situation with the landlord and they were not going to fix until after we moved out (they did give 60 days notice-- until August 1, 2012 for us to leave)

[sandyclaus]

I'm pretty sure that you have a valid case of discrimination there, based solely upon the statement in the letter "too many kids". It would be different if there were occupancy limits, but to say that their only reason for non-renewal is because of the number of children in the household makes it specific - and ILLEGAL.

Currently, Arizona has laws providing that two persons per bedroom, as a general rule, are presumptively reasonable. Approximately 24 state equivalency agencies use two persons per bedroom as the presumptively reasonable standard. As such, you are not currently in violation of state housing laws as far as occupancy limits are concerned.

You can obtain assistance (a) in learning about the Fair Housing Act, or (b) in filing a complaint at the HUD Regional Offices for Arizona listed below:
For Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada:
PACIFIC/HAWAII OFFICE (Charles_Hauptman@hud.gov)
Fair Housing Enforcement Center
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse
450 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102-3448
Telephone (415) 436-8400 or 1-800-347-3739
Fax (415) 436-8537 • TTY (415) 436-6594

[Friend In Court]

If you pass the hurdle on the number of children, the landlord still may refuse to renew on the basis of the care of the home. "Spots" on the carpet may be too deep and numerous to adequately clean and the carpet need replacing.

When one rents a property they are expected to return it to the condition it was when they rented it, save normal wear and tear. Holes in walls, nicks, dents, etc. should be repaired by the tenant before leaving. If there is no express language in your lease to the contrary, you are not required to allow them to repair and deduct.

Follow through with the federal and state agencies that enforce the discrimination laws regarding children for they should be effective educating your landlord for he and the management company are standing on quicksand on the children issue. To the best of your ability, do the carpet cleaning as soon as you can so the stains do not become irrevocably set.