Hi all,
I have a vacant multi-level townhouse (my only rental property) and a family who would like to rent. One of the children uses a wheelchair. The parents said they would be carrying the child up and down the stairs.
Is there anything I should be concerned about, if I rent to them? I’m in Montgomery County, MD.
Thanks for your advice.
Hi Ryan,
Yes, you should be concerned that the parents will drop the kid down the stairs and then sue you. However, you legally can’t discriminate against someone with a disability.
I would try to find an ambulatory person for your upstairs apartment.
I had the same thing happen a few weeks ago. A woman on Section 8 came to look at one of my upstairs apartments. She had braces on her legs and could barely walk. I asked her what was wrong with her legs (thinking that she probably had polio as a child). As it turn out, she was just very obese. She wanted to rent the upstairs apartment! I called the head of the local Section 8 office and told her that I thought this was a TERRIBLE idea and asked her to talk the tenant into renting one of my downstairs apartments. She said she would try.
Fortunately, before the Section 8 paperwork went through, I found a qualified tenant with cash to rent the apartment.
Mike
Mike