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Woman Seeks Christian Roommate/Being Sued

post #1 of 41
10/24/10 at 6:58pm
Thread Starter 
Did anyone else read this news story that happened in Grand Rapids Michigan.
A member of the church congregation filed a complaint against a woman who posted an ad on the church bulletin board. In the ad she stated she was seeking a Christian roommate. Now she is being sued for supposedly violating the Fair Housing Act and being discriminatory toward other potential renters and their religions. Is this truly a violation of that act or is this a violation of this woman's First Amendment rights.
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post #2 of 41
10/24/10 at 7:13pm
If she owned the place and discriminated agents tenants as the landlord, then I can understand the law suit. But you stated she is simply looking for a room mate. IMO, she has the right to be selective about the type of person she chooses to live with.

Sounds very unchristian-like of the church member who complained about her. But then I didn't hear about the story and only know as much as you posted here.
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post #3 of 41
10/24/10 at 7:23pm
I'm pretty sure that when you're looking for a roommate, you can "discriminate" in any way you like...most women would prefer a female roommate, etc. If you were a landlord you couldn't discriminate based on anything, but for a roomie situation I think it's different. I'm not sure on that legally though. Why would someone from her church (presumably the same religion) complain? That's weird.
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post #4 of 41
10/24/10 at 10:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
I'm pretty sure that when you're looking for a roommate, you can "discriminate" in any way you like...most women would prefer a female roommate, etc. If you were a landlord you couldn't discriminate based on anything, but for a roomie situation I think it's different. I'm not sure on that legally though. Why would someone from her church (presumably the same religion) complain? That's weird.
I agree with that. I think even a landlord can discriminate of he/she is looking for someone to share his/her home, within the same living space. Obviously they can't discriminate if looking for a tenant in a separate apartment.
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post #5 of 41
10/25/10 at 2:28am
News reports:
Michigan Woman Faces Civil Rights Complaint for Seeking a Christian Roommate
'Christian roommate' ad spurs action
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post #6 of 41
10/25/10 at 4:36am
That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.

I bet if anyone cared to dig, they would find out that whoever made this "complaint" has a grudge against the woman who posted the notice. Perhaps SHE wanted the room and was turned down. Why on earth would anyone anywhere care what anyone else put on an advertisement for a roommate.

Ridiculous.
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post #7 of 41
10/25/10 at 5:04am
And you wonder why everything is going downhill any time a Christian speaks out. It was wrong of a fellow "christian" (which I would tell them they are NOT very christian like) to complain.

When anyone is seeking a roommate to share their living space they have the right to pick who they want- its NOT discrimination in any sense of the word.

And the one that complained needs to be reading his/her Bible more often!
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post #8 of 41
10/25/10 at 6:00am
Im not a Christian I and I found no offense whatsoever in her having a preferance towards wanting someone to live with that has the same faith and beliefs as her.

If she is seeking a roommate then I would think she has everyright to pick and choose who she lives with. IDK it just seems like a stupid pointless lawsuit. Why cant we sue the landlords or people who wont rent to people who own cats or dogs or both....It just doesnt make any sense to me and the whole case seems absurb.
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post #9 of 41
10/25/10 at 8:48am
Ok...so. It was a Church bulletin board, in a Christian Church, and the woman was seeking a Christian room mate; and is getting sued???

I couldn't wrap my brain around this one using duck tape. This is definitely one of those WTH?? moments.

How would a person offended by Christian room mates be reading a bulletin board in a Church anyway? I don't think I've ever sneaked into a Church to read the bulletin board.
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post #10 of 41
10/25/10 at 8:50am
Just for reference regarding lawsuits in the Bible!

1 Corinthians 6: 1-11 - Lawsuits among believers
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post #11 of 41
10/25/10 at 8:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45 View Post
Just for reference regarding lawsuits in the Bible!

1 Corinthians 6: 1-11 - Lawsuits among believers
Isn't that the same passage the church uses to keep from turning child rapists over to the police?
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post #12 of 41
10/25/10 at 9:34am
I have no clue Mike - but there are many references about abuse in the Bible and that it is wrong - this applies to domestic abuse as well as sexual abuse.

We just had a table set up in service yesterday for prayer regarding abuse and I have the flyer listing all the Bible references (OT and NT) regarding abuse. I haven't read all the references yet, but plan on doing so this week.

God obviously doesn't approve of any kind of abuse!
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post #13 of 41
10/25/10 at 11:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3CatsN1Dog View Post
Im not a Christian I and I found no offense whatsoever in her having a preferance towards wanting someone to live with that has the same faith and beliefs as her.

If she is seeking a roommate then I would think she has everyright to pick and choose who she lives with. IDK it just seems like a stupid pointless lawsuit. Why cant we sue the landlords or people who wont rent to people who own cats or dogs or both....It just doesnt make any sense to me and the whole case seems absurb.
I absolutely agree with this. A roommate is completely different than a landlord.
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post #14 of 41
10/25/10 at 11:48am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skippymjp View Post
Isn't that the same passage the church uses to keep from turning child rapists over to the police?
I am not aware of any refusal to turn child rapists over to police by churches. Can you explain this further.

When I read it article, I believe it said the person was a church member who filed the complaint. I feel that this is totally ridiculous. I guess they are saying she was being discriminatory against other religions.
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post #15 of 41
10/25/10 at 11:52am
Stupid, frivolous lawsuit.

I could understand if she posted the ad and was trying to find a tenent for an apartment, house, or something along those lines, but she is looking for someone to share her living space with. She has every right to find someone who shares her beliefs to be her roomate.
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post #16 of 41
10/25/10 at 11:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by otto View Post
I bet if anyone cared to dig, they would find out that whoever made this "complaint" has a grudge against the woman who posted the notice. Perhaps SHE wanted the room and was turned down. Why on earth would anyone anywhere care what anyone else put on an advertisement for a roommate.
I'm far from Sherlock Holmes but this would be my conclusion. I hope she doesn't get sued. That to me is absurd. When I posted for a roommate back in 2000 (or 2001- I don't remember) I included I prefered someone with a Judeo-Christian background and I never considered the remote possibility it might cause a ruckus. Thank God it didn't. I will file this as a tidbit I can learn from.
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post #17 of 41
10/25/10 at 12:07pm
Technically it is discrimination, but not the type that one can be sued for. As pointed out, it's the same as women wanting another woman roommate.

What is ironic here is that the person was looking for someone like minded who shared similar beliefs. What they got is someone who shared similar beliefs, same church even, yet was intolerant and petty. Sharing the same beliefs with another person does not mean they will be a better person than someone who has a different belief system to you. Sadly a lesson she learned the hard way.

I hope the lawsuit is dropped. It's stupid. If it offended anyone it should have simply been taken down and the woman notified why.
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post #18 of 41
10/25/10 at 12:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3CatsN1Dog View Post
Im not a Christian I and I found no offense whatsoever in her having a preferance towards wanting someone to live with that has the same faith and beliefs as her.

If she is seeking a roommate then I would think she has everyright to pick and choose who she lives with. IDK it just seems like a stupid pointless lawsuit. Why cant we sue the landlords or people who wont rent to people who own cats or dogs or both....It just doesnt make any sense to me and the whole case seems absurb.
I agree completely. I have a friend whose name was on the lease for the apartment she was renting. At one point she was looking for a roommate, and she interviewed and did background checks on people who might potentially be LIVING WITH HER. It's #1 a safety issue, and #2 to ensure that you get along with and can live with that other person.

I'm not a Christian either, and it would never cross my mind to file such a ridiculous lawsuit. I also agree with Otto, it sounds like the person who complained likely has a grudge against this woman. IMO, the worst the woman looking for a roommate is doing is denying herself the opportunity to get to know some non-Christians and realize that we can be good people too.
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post #19 of 41
10/25/10 at 1:01pm
This makes no sense to me. Obviously there's some kind of problem with the fair housing act that needs to be resolved by legislators. Too bad the woman has to go through this nonsense.
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post #20 of 41
10/25/10 at 1:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ut0pia View Post
This makes no sense to me. Obviously there's some kind of problem with the fair housing act that needs to be resolved by legislators. Too bad the woman has to go through this nonsense.
totally agree

Here's what I found on the law.
http://www.equalhousingonthenet.com/
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post #21 of 41
10/25/10 at 2:26pm
As somebody who owns rental properties, I see this a bit differently. The laws simply make sense to me. Equal housing laws don't prescribe whom you have to choose as tenants (or roommates); landlords are free to use their own criteria when deciding, e.g., kids or no kids, young vs. older, smokers vs. non-smokers, Christian vs. non-Christian. The laws merely dictate how the rental property is advertised, so that there is at least an appearance of everyone having a fair chance.

Sometimes you go about renting out an apartment or house with an idea of the "perfect tenant", only to choose somebody who isn't perfect "on paper" because you find yourself on the same wavelength with them, or because some factor you hadn't taken into consideration suddenly becomes decisive. That person wouldn't have even had a chance if you'd advertised for a certain gender, age, religion, race, ethnic background, etc..

The same goes for job vacancies. There's going to be some pre-selection when applications are reviewed, but to rule out certain groups from the outset, i.e., to say they needn't apply, is certainly discrimination.
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post #22 of 41
10/25/10 at 4:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueyedgirl5946 View Post
I am not aware of any refusal to turn child rapists over to police by churches. Can you explain this further.

When I read it article, I believe it said the person was a church member who filed the complaint. I feel that this is totally ridiculous. I guess they are saying she was being discriminatory against other religions.
That's because you changed my statement. I didn't say "refused". When pedophile clergy are demanded by law enforcement, they've been allowed to make an arrest, so they haven't been refused.

However, as I said, "the same passage the church uses to keep from turning child rapists over to the police?", there are many instances, all in the news, just over the last few months that predator clergy and hierarchy discovered by the church have been simply hidden, moved, spirited out of the country or "forgiven" instead of turning them over to police; in essence, aiding them in getting away with their crimes.
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post #23 of 41
10/25/10 at 5:43pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skippymjp View Post
That's because you changed my statement. I didn't say "refused". When pedophile clergy are demanded by law enforcement, they've been allowed to make an arrest, so they haven't been refused.

However, as I said, "the same passage the church uses to keep from turning child rapists over to the police?", there are many instances, all in the news, just over the last few months that predator clergy and hierarchy discovered by the church have been simply hidden, moved, spirited out of the country or "forgiven" instead of turning them over to police; in essence, aiding them in getting away with their crimes.
I guess I just haven't read anything about this. Are you saying they use the Bible scriptures Golden Kitty gave, 1 Cor. 6:1-11, to excuse it all. I haven't read any stories about that so I guess I am just unaware of any circumstances like this.

So according to this lawsuit, if I decided to rent out a room in my home, I would be breaking the law if I advertised for a Christian person???? How about if I advertised for a female roommate???
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post #24 of 41
10/25/10 at 8:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueyedgirl5946 View Post
I guess I just haven't read anything about this. Are you saying they use the Bible scriptures Golden Kitty gave, 1 Cor. 6:1-11, to excuse it all. I haven't read any stories about that so I guess I am just unaware of any circumstances like this.
Nope. It's now a matter of record that at least 3 denominations of Churches have been hiding, moving, concealing and enabling pedophiles in their ranks for decades. I was asking if that was how they justified it, or if they simply consider themselves above the law.

Quote:
So according to this lawsuit, if I decided to rent out a room in my home, I would be breaking the law if I advertised for a Christian person???? How about if I advertised for a female roommate???
It's no doubt a really whacked out lawsuit. I'm with the others, I'd really like to know the background of the person doing the suing, and what kind of beef he/she/it has with this woman.
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post #25 of 41
10/26/10 at 4:57am
Out of curiousity...this was brought up last night when I was talking about this to M....What if Bf and I wanted to rent out a room in our house. Would it be against the law to advertise that we require negative urine tests for drugs and alcohol for any tenants? Or even to say that we want a non drug or alcohol user to reside here. The onyl reason that situation got brought up was because when looking at job ads and stuff they will state that drug testing is required in some cases, so can someone who is looking for a roommate or renting out a property etc, could they state that they require drug testing for any possible tenant or continued testing for current tenants? (the tenant wouldnt pay for it though the landlord would)

Odd scenario I know but the point ended up being about how absurd this whole situation is.
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post #26 of 41
10/26/10 at 11:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueyedgirl5946 View Post
So according to this lawsuit, if I decided to rent out a room in my home, I would be breaking the law if I advertised for a Christian person???? How about if I advertised for a female roommate???
Yes, Christian - no, female.
http://www.equalhousingonthenet.com/

Quote:
Q: I would like to make sure my roommate is similar to me. What can I say?


A: When living space is shared, only the gender of a roommate may be specified. The ad may not specify race, religion, or any other protected class.
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post #27 of 41
10/26/10 at 6:55pm
Oy vey, really? Some people have nothing better to do with their time than to complain about and sue someone for being "discriminatory" over who they have as a room mate?!

The part that just twists my brain up is the fact she posted at a Christian church about wanting a Christian room mate ... I'm not finding the issue here!
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post #28 of 41
10/29/10 at 5:08pm
Even the rules on the craigslist housing section say that you can get into big beef if you are "discriminating" in your search.

It seems silly since you are letting people into YOUR space. So am I discriminating now because I never open my door for religious solicitors?

Hopefully she gets off. Its so sad when everybody has to find something to be offended about all the time, and then to take it to the next level. I definitely agree that the person who reported this ad probably had a grudge against her. Possibly someone that she turned down as a roommate?

I can totally understand wanting to make sure you are living with common interests. It really helps avoid future suffering, lawsuits, and evictions.
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post #29 of 41
10/29/10 at 11:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nekomania View Post
I can totally understand wanting to make sure you are living with common interests. It really helps avoid future suffering, lawsuits, and evictions.
True, but that can be done without a discriminatory ad. A certain amount of screening was already being done by advertising at her church, and she might have gotten away with "Christian woman seeks roommate" rather than "Woman seeks Christian roommate".

This to me is probably a case of the advertiser being ignorant of the law due to lack of experience. Surely it would have been a simple matter for whoever noticed she was breaking the law to inform the church secretary and have the ad taken down, so that person probably did have it in for her.
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post #30 of 41
10/29/10 at 11:57pm
I can understand the law in regards to renting an actual apartment, house, etc., to a person, but it seems asinine to me to apply the same criteria to someone who is looking for a roommate to share their living space.
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