Dear editor,
The single mother who wrote a heartfelt, sensible, intelligent letter about the prejudice she faces whilst looking for a rental home is someone with a lot of courage — and quite obviously someone who would make a great tenant.
I’m on disability, so I know about stereotypes — too often landlords confuse having a chronic illness with being “a bum.”
If the illness is an “invisible one” such as an autoimmune disease that flares on occasion rather than constantly; or a mental or head issue or injury, etc. than you’re often looked at askance like you’re “faking it”; and if it’s visible, such as paralysis or a palsy or you’re in a chair or have canes or a service animal, then you’re too often looked at like you’d be “a hassle” — as if you haven’t been getting around your whole life!
This single mom makes one great point — “Do men who’ve walked out on their families … men who’ve abandoned their children…” get the “third degree” when looking for a place?
Whenever a prospective landlord worries about what a good tenant (or not) you’d be based on “outside stuff” — (i.e. body size/shape; skin shade; accent; disability; child in tow without Daddy, etc. — then “Houston, we’ve got a PROBLEM.”
I hope a prospective landlord rents her a place on her merits, (and I hope she catches some kind of a “break” because it sure sounds like, underneath the pragmatism and straightforwardness, there’s a strong person who’s suffered terrible heartbreak, angst and stress.
Name withheld by request
