Housing discrimination?

[williamspace]

I'm kind of at a loss here. I have started getting ready to pursue my name change. It will go from something clearly feminine to clearly masculine. However, I'm worried.

My lease is up in December. My roommates and I planned to resign the lease and stay for another year. However, once I change my name, I have to let my landlord know. I don't know how accepting my landlord would be or if she would refuse to let us resign the lease due to my name change. I don't want to screw my roommates over like that. But I want to change my name. It seems like a silly worry but we live in a world where it could happen.

Has anyone dealt with similar happenings?

[FTMax]

Once you change your name you should re-do any legal paperwork you have so that it's updated with your current name. So even if you were to hold off on changing your name until after the lease signing, you'd still have to go update it and you'd run into the same issue.

What are the legal protections for trans people in your state? For your county/city? Are there non-discrimination laws in place?

What I did when I had to renew my lease was just cross out my old name, write in my new name and attach a copy of the name change order from the court. My complex has an overnight drop box for notices or rent payments, so we just put it in an envelope and left it in there. No issues. I don't think where I live currently has any legal protections for trans people, but I'm not sure. Either way, I had no problems the way I did it.

If you have a personal relationship with your landlord it would probably be best to be up front about it. If you go that route, I would take at least one of your roommates with you for that discussion so that if she doesn't take it well, you have one witness who understands what occurred.

Also know that any time you sign any kind of paperwork for the first year or so after your name change, if anyone does a background or credit check on you, the old name will pop up. So this may be a discussion that you'd be having with any landlord. Not necessarily something you can avoid.

[williamspace]

Once you change your name you should re-do any legal paperwork you have so that it's updated with your current name. So even if you were to hold off on changing your name until after the lease signing, you'd still have to go update it and you'd run into the same issue.

What are the legal protections for trans people in your state? For your county/city? Are there non-discrimination laws in place?

What I did when I had to renew my lease was just cross out my old name, write in my new name and attach a copy of the name change order from the court. My complex has an overnight drop box for notices or rent payments, so we just put it in an envelope and left it in there. No issues. I don't think where I live currently has any legal protections for trans people, but I'm not sure. Either way, I had no problems the way I did it.

If you have a personal relationship with your landlord it would probably be best to be up front about it. If you go that route, I would take at least one of your roommates with you for that discussion so that if she doesn't take it well, you have one witness who understands what occurred.

Also know that any time you sign any kind of paperwork for the first year or so after your name change, if anyone does a background or credit check on you, the old name will pop up. So this may be a discussion that you'd be having with any landlord. Not necessarily something you can avoid.

I live in Idaho and there's only the Fair Housing act, as far as I am concerned. Knowing, our landlord has been OK with gay couples but I don't know how it would be with me.

Ultimately, I probably could just say 1/2 the truth... I wanted to change my name to get away from family ties. But then again, she could question why I'm changing it from my birth name to William.

I reread the lease and it said the landlord and tenants have to adhere to the Fair Housing Act but... I'm not sure if they would, you know?

[FTMax]

This is the most detailed explanation I can find of how the Fair Housing Act applies in this situation:

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/LGBT_Housing_Discrimination

You'd have to file a complaint with your local HUD office if there was an issue. That would take time but it would enable you to stay where you are. Evictions also take time, so if she were to try to evict you, she'd have to go through a whole court process that is a minimum of about 3 months long in most jurisdictions.

What you could do, it may cost you extra. And it won't work if she does any kind of credit or background check. But if she doesn't, your roommates could ask to sign a new lease, old you could move out and new you could move in. On paper. Then you could avoid the discussion entirely.

But honestly? If you have a history of paying on time and there have been no complaints about you or your roommates, I don't think you'll have any issues.

[Rhonda Lynn]

I'm kind of at a loss here. I have started getting ready to pursue my name change. It will go from something clearly feminine to clearly masculine. However, I'm worried.

My lease is up in December. My roommates and I planned to resign the lease and stay for another year. However, once I change my name, I have to let my landlord know. I don't know how accepting my landlord would be or if she would refuse to let us resign the lease due to my name change. I don't want to screw my roommates over like that. But I want to change my name. It seems like a silly worry but we live in a world where it could happen.

Has anyone dealt with similar happenings?

William,

My husband and I are landlords who own and manage a number of apartments. Perhaps I can help with a little advice.

I think that signing your new lease as "William" is an opportunity for you. You want to establish a rental record with your new name and this will be easier as an established tenant than trying to explain yourself in the future if you were applying for a new place.

Since your landlord has been good about gay tenants, that is a good sign. Also, most landlords these days don't want anything to do with a potential lawsuit. That works in your favor. Not that you want a lawsuit either! Of course not. However, the best thing that you can do is to be a great tenant. Pay your rent on time. Avoid noise complaints. Don't do anything that would create a reason for your landlord to want to be rid of you. If you are a great tenant, then your landlord shouldn't have any problem with your gender identity or new name.

Good luck!

-Rhonda (MTF 1991, new here...)