Can landlords discriminate based on political preference ?

Technically speaking it is illegal assuming that is the reason. Logically speaking, HOW do you prove that was the actual reason??? The landlord will come up with a million different reasons…NONE of which are politically motivated. Hiring a lawyer to prove it will cost a fortune. Personally, I’d spend that money on a nice new place to live!!! You could make a dayum good down payment on your own home for what a lawyer would cost & pay rent to yourself.

He claimed? That’s hardly concrete. Most apartments and condominium complexes here in Florida as well as the state of things when I lived in two other states do/did not allow flags other than the USA flag. If he was evicted he did more than fly a USA flag. I guess he forgot about the real reason. The law is very specific about evictions. My guess is that that rule was in his lease. Here, even with the rule being communicated when the lease is negotiated and signed, there is generally a notice requirement as well.

Sadly, renter’s discrimination (for evicting and renting in the first place) is really difficult to prove. You’d need, short of a confession or recording, a documented pattern of behavior on the part of the landlord.

So, might there being a Trump supporter the real reason? Sure. But I’m certain that’s not the reason the landlord gave.

It could easily be something as stupid as it being prohibited to mount flags.

A landlord who owns one or two houses that they rent out can discriminate legally. I think the law in Florida is greater than 4 units the landlord needs to worry about discrimination laws, I’m not sure what the law is at the federal level.

As far as eviction, the lease and eviction laws matter for that. You can’t evict for being a Trumper, you can evict them if they aren’t allowed to hang a flag according to the lease and the tenant won’t take it down.

Can renters with real reasons for evictions lie HELL YA ‘cause they are liars !

The facts sound pretty unlikely, and the question is similar to others asked before about political signs, public art, etc.

The short answer is no in terms of free speech privileges – within limits that may apply under zoning ordinances or terms of a particular lease. But it’s very possible your neighbor was evicted for other reasons and is just choosing to play this card because it suits them.

I am betting he was told the real reason but he chooses to make his own assumptions about the landlord’s motives. The real reason may very well be that he flew the flag and it was in the lease not to fly flags. Some homeowner’s associations have rules about no flags, no signs, so if he was in a complex, this could also be a reason. He’s going to have his own paranoid reason about why he was evicted. Who knows, maybe he was late with the rent, or maybe the landlord wants to put a friend or relative in the house.

Friends of ours live in a tight community where one of the houses flew a giant “Fuck Biden” flag. It upset the other homeowners, not because they did or did not like Biden but because it had the word “fuck” in it. It made the neighborhood look shitty.

I don’t see why the landlord can’t discriminate based on political preference. There is nothing in the Constitution that says otherwise. You can’t discriminate based on race, religion or gender, but this does not fall into any of those categories.

No. Not legally. If someone wants you gone, they’ll find a reason to get rid of you. The same is true at the place you work.

@kritiper I used to think that, except recently there was a woman who was charging the employer with discrimination and then they fired her for lateness, and she sued and won. I’ll try to find the link. I used to believe what you said, they’ll find a reason to fire you, but I guess now there’s recourse that’s win-able.

@kritiper https://www.dallasnews.com/business/jobs/2022/11/14/black-woman-awarded-366-million-over-firing-calls-fedex-racial-bias-next-level/

I’ve never rented a house, only apartments, but we are not allowed to drape anything off our balcony railings, not even a swim towel that is drying, so I imagine there might be similar rules for flags and such.

@jca2 They might have a hard time proving it.

I’m a landlord. My tenant is a conservative Republican but he keeps the lawn watered and maintains the house so I couldn’t be happier.

^^Best answer.

@Caravanfan It’s all that fertilizer!