An eyebrow-raising rental listing in Vancouver offers advantages for families and plenty of space — but the landlord has decidedly specific preferences.
While some of the images in the Craigslist listing are taken from strange angles, the rental unit appears fairly spacious and includes a little covered deck with a cute blue table and matching bench. The landlord states that it has a "great view" that overlooks a residential area along Commercial Drive.
The two-bedroom rental also offers "huge bedrooms" and a 150 square foot bathroom, as well as hardwood floors and a wide staircase.
While the rental is listed at $2,300 a month, renters with children can get $100 per month off with utilities included, meaning they only "pay $1600" (the utilities cost $500 per month, per the listing). This math doesn't quite add up, however. According to these numbers, that would work out to $1700.
The ad notes that the duplex is "family-oriented" and that the landlord prefers a family with kids or a family who wants to start a family. The landlord adds that they "love kids" and a previous tenant named their baby after them. They live just down the street and say they are "very personal" and will bring "chocolates to the kids" and would like to have a drink with the new tenants.
The landlord, who created the listing but refers to "the landlord" as though it was another person, asks that you provide via email your phone number, age, type of work, how long you've lived in Vancouver, family situation, and what kind of food you like.
"Based on this I will call you, you don't call me," they write.
Protection from Discrimination
So is this kind of specificity about who can rent a unit legal?
The B.C. government states that "a landlord cannot refuse to rent to a tenant based on their race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, religion, marital status, family status, physical or mental disability, gender, sexual orientation, age or lawful source of income."
And while a landlord typically can’t refuse to rent a property to a family with children, they can limit the number of people living in a rental unit. They cannot, however, refuse to rent to someone because they do not have children or because of their marital status.
Find out more information about tenancy discrimination.
And if you are looking for this exact kind of rental, you may have already missed out on this one; the landlord indicated via phone that the unit may be already spoken for.
