Can landlords refuse to pay me rent if I have multiple sclerosis?

This viral TikTok is a warning to landlords who are considering rejecting a tenant based on a disability. In the video, a woman reveals how karma finally caught up with the landlord after she was discriminated against because of her multiple sclerosis. Uploaded by Staci (@itsstacisiegel), the video has already received over 264,000 views.

As they walk, Staci tells the story. “I rented a house in Santa Monica. So, I applied. My application was accepted. I signed a lease, paid the security deposit, and you won’t believe what the hell happened,” she said.

After packing her things, hiring a moving company, and informing her roommate that she was moving out, Staci thought she was ready to move into her new apartment—until she wasn’t.

“Then, about five days before I was supposed to move into this new apartment, the landlord, let’s call her (expletive) Mc(expletive)erson, or CM for short, called me and said, ‘Hey Stacy, I have really bad news. I just spoke to my lawyer and I know you have multiple sclerosis, and he told me it would be too much of a risk for me to let you move into the apartment because you have MS,'” she continued.

Is the landlord legally allowed to do this?

Staci was particularly disturbed by this news because it was a blatant case of housing discrimination under the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability.

“Anyway, I stayed calm and explained to the landlord what she was going to do. I said, you know, ‘CM, (expletive) Mc(expletive)erson, this is illegal(…). You can’t do that(…). Not to mention we already have a signed lease, (…) I paid and I’m moving in in five (expletive) days,'” Staci exclaimed.

The landlord seemed unfazed by Staci’s concerns and stuck to her decision. Fortunately for Staci, she knew exactly what to do. She contacted the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“I hung up. I called HUD and told them what happened, and they said they were going to open an investigation. They asked me for all my evidence and all my witnesses, and after about a week they called me and said, ‘OK, we’ve completed our investigation and we’ve concluded that you definitely have enough evidence to go after her or sue her.'”

Because Staci was hesitant to take legal action, she gave her landlord a chance to reconsider his decision before taking legal action.

“So I sent her a letter explaining what HUD had just told me and asked her if she would reconsider and she said she wouldn’t, so I ended up filing suit. We had our mediation day and she didn’t have to let me move into the apartment, but she did have to pay me a (expletive) amount of money. If I had told you how much it was, you would have died. So karma is a (expletive),” she explained.

Why did the landlord want to throw them out in the first place?

At the end of the video, Staci reveals the real reason why the landlord wanted to keep her out of the apartment.

“But the (expletive) craziest part of the whole story is that she actually wanted to sell the apartment. I heard from a lot of neighbors (…). She ended up selling it (…). She just figured that instead of just calling me the week before I moved in and telling me that her finances had changed and she had to sell the apartment, she should have said that violating the Fair Housing Act would be a better argument for breaking the lease, so (expletive) imagine that.”

@itsstacisiegel This story was a while ago, but it’s important to tell, and it’s a good lesson for anyone who has been discriminated against, or any landlord considering turning down a tenant with a disability. I left out some parts of the story that would make people even more outraged at CM, but to save time I wanted to post an abridged version. #multiplesclerosisawareness #Multiplesclerosis #MS #MSWarrior #chronicillness #chronicillnessawareness #discrimination #fairhousing #disability #disabilityawareness #WTF #lawsuit #judgmentday #disabilityawareness #ADA ♬ Original sound – Staci🤍

The Daily Dot contacted Staci via TikTok direct message and she had this to say about the incident:

“I posted this story and shared my experience so that anyone who has been discriminated against (…) knows that they can seek redress (…) and that there are government agencies to help them.”

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