The other day I received a phone call from a Prospect wanting to know about availability at our community. Since I had just gotten a cancelation (Boo Hiss!) on a two-bedroom unit, obviously I was happy for the opportunity to re-lease it quickly. Right off the bat, though, this person’s phone demeanor was … honestly, not pleasant. She made an appointment to come in, which she did yesterday.
She was early for the appointment, which is one hundred times better than being late! She brought an accordion file folder with her and placed everything on the table in the Leasing Office. With what I now know to be her typical “directness” she began interrogating me about policy and procedure. Immediately, it put me off – not necessarily making me defensive, but I thought, WT*? You aren’t even a Resident and you are questioning every possible scenario that could come up in a lease situation. I wondered if she’d had some terrible issues somewhere else, so I asked her, but she said she had not.
I asked for her ID and went to tour the community and the available apartment. (I admit, it was kind of hard not to think ugly thoughts about the person who was a perfectly wonderful elderly woman who had had to cancel her lease! Were it not for her, I would not have to be with this mean person.)
On the way to the unit, Ms. Prospect asks me, “Are there any children here?”
I asked, “Why do you ask that?”
“I don’t like kids. I don’t want to live anywhere near kids. They’re loud and where we live now, they have a kid and when they play, they make all kinds of noise. I think they let the kid ride his tricycle all over the place.”
“Well, there are some children here. I don’t control that,” I said. “I do understand your concern though.”
“Oh, I know you can’t answer this question because of Fair Housing, but I just want you to know I don’t want to live around kids,” she said.
“If you understand that my renting to families is a Fair Housing question, then you know there is nothing I can do – or want to do – about families living here. I do know there are people who don’t really enjoy children. I get that. I really do. ”
After that little exchange, I was ready to say something else entirely, but we continued to the apartment. She loved it and made another appointment to bring her husband back over the weekend. I hope her husband, as a police officer, will be more respectful or at least open minded.
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