Would you rent to a sex offender if the offense was a 17 with a 15 year old ?

 

This was the title of a blog post on a real estate blog. The post, which generated 57 (so far) comments is a glaring illustration of the actual concerns people have about “sex offenders” in the neighborhood.

What was surprising was that most of the concerns were about property value. Very few people expressed concern for neighborhood safety. Here are some excerpts:

  • Maybe I’ll just offer all the neighbors addresses of my upcoming available rentals if they want to move and won’t sell for cheap 😉
  • As a former defense attorney, I have great empathy for people convicted of crimes like this. Many of them are actually really good people and deserve a chance in life.  That being said, the businessperson in me would not rent to a sex offender. I think it will drive off other tenants, because people don’t care about the details of a sex crime.
  • I don’t think anyone has mentioned the damage that could be done to your property by “neighbors” wanting to hound him out of the neighborhood. If you rent to him, maybe you should factor in a higher maintenance cost!
  • I could care less what the neighbors think. Just one more opportunity to buy their house at a discount.
  • Maybe consider talking to your other tenants and see how they feel about it. You sure don’t want to loose several tenants because of the addition of one.
  • As for the neighbor thing, I would let every one of your neighbors know that you were renting to a sex offender.  Then, I would offer to buy their houses at a discount if they really felt the need to move…  🙂
  • even though your real reason may be the sex offense I would find another reason to disqualify them for something not disputable such as don’t meet income requirements.
  • I wouldn’t just because they have to register.  And once the neighbors find out you let a sex offender into the neighborhood, you’ll never hear the end of it. I don’t want to deal with the drama.
  • I immediately thought about potential vandalism.  Spray painting slurs on the property, bricks through the window, and other things of that nature.

 

You can read the full post here.

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