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Pakistani Man Shares Screenshots Of How A Landlord Turned Him After Finding Out Where He’s From, Other Users Share Similar Experiences
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Pakistani Man Shares Screenshots Of How A Landlord Turned Him After Finding Out Where He’s From, Other Users Share Similar Experiences

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It’s truly a shame that even in the year 2020, the phenomenon of ethnic and racial discrimination can still be observed in almost every single area of life. Take, for instance, the housing market. Even though 2018 marked the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Fair Housing Act, which was created to help limit discrimination related to landlords, tenants, and housing in the United States, the problem still remains critically relevant.

Various studies conducted in the last ten years suggest that ethnic and racial minorities still receive less favorable treatment than white people when seeking housing. Moreover, research shows that real estate agents and rental housing providers tend to show less available housing options to minorities compared to equally qualified whites. This type of study once again shows us how much work there’s still left to do for us to create a society that’s safe for each and every one of us.

The experience that one Twitter user, abbas96ali, recently had to go through proved this just as well.

P.S. Bored Panda had a chance to ask Abbas some questions, so make sure to scroll down for his answers.

More info: Twitter

Recently, this Twitter user named Abbas Ali shared screenshots of a conversation he had with a landlord who was offering a room for rent

The tweet included two screenshots of the conversation this man had with the landlord and the description said this: “My heart sinks when landlords ask this question because I already know I’m not getting the place then.”

“I think with the BLM protests happening in the US right now we are getting closer to not only raising awareness about racial and ethnic profiling and discrimination but maybe even getting closer to taking institutional steps of reform/abolishment towards ending them,” said Abbas. “However, the rest of the world has yet to catch up and go through such realisations in each of their own countries and regions, recognising their own type of institutionalised racism and discrimination.”

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The beginning of this conversation seemed perfectly normal

Image credits: abbas96ali

The man approached the landlord by introducing himself as the potential tenant he’d just spoken to over the phone. The landlord replied and asked Abbas when he would like to come to see the place.

“Depending on which country you go to in the Middle East and what country you belong to/look like you’re from, you’ll have a different experience with such landlords or people. Some of these countries have much more blatant racism and discrimination than others do in this region, but there is a clear hierarchy in all of them. In the case of Dubai, generally, I feel like it’s a much less racist society or at least not as openly discriminatory, but I was warned by my colleagues since I first moved here to not tell them I’m Pakistani when looking for apartments and just to pretend I’m from Kuwait instead,” Abbas told us.

And then this happened

Image credits: abbas96ali

The landlord suggested the time that would work best for him and then asked Abbas a few questions. One of these questions was “Where are you from?”

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“I feel like such racist stereotypes and discrimination exists in this part of the world largely because of how institutionalised racism is in the governments and societies that certain people feel like it’s the norm. And this kind of treatment spans all levels of society too, from laws to culture too,” Abbas continued.

For some reason, the landlord felt the need to know the ethnicity of his potential tenant

Image credits: abbas96ali

The man gave all the answers to the landlord’s questions except to the one asking his ethnicity. The landlord replied to the message by asking “where are you from?” once again.

“And even in the case of me simply looking for an apartment using a popular website in Dubai where the site even allows the ad poster to specify a “preferred nationality” for their tenants. And in gulf citizen’s own cultures have deep-rooted racism toward their own nationals too, with microaggressions and discrimination towards people with darker skin colour and people with mixed families or bloodlines, looking down upon or calling “impure” for nationals who have mixed parents or ancestral links to families in other non-Gulf countries,” said Abbas.

After finding out that the man was from Pakistan, the landlord suddenly decided that the room was no longer available

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When asked what, in his opinion, we as a society should do to make people more tolerant and rational, Abbas said this: “I think we as a society need to further raise awareness of the racism and discrimination being experienced in this region specifically to help locals and local governments realise the effects of their laws, policies and societies on non-citizens. The discussions and conversations need to be made public and be driven by locals, as opposed to ex-pats because they could still face backlash, punishment or deportation with the current laws and restrictions. And hopefully, this will lead to much needed institutional reform in these countries.”

Image credits: abbas96ali

Apparently, it was already rented… even though just a few hours earlier, the landlord had been inviting this man to come see the place… yeah, right

Image credits: abbas96ali

Abbas ended our conversation by adding that “the pandemic has really accelerated the eventual tipping point for a lot of the ex-pats in this region with hundreds of thousands of people who have already left to return to their home countries in the past few months. They were always considered temporary guests rather than proper working citizens, so the ex-pat populations didn’t really receive much/any support by the government during this economic crisis when they started losing their jobs, and the jobs were the only thing keeping them here.”

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Reading this conversation made many Twitter users extremely sad and pissed

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Some were pointing out that according to the Fair Housing Act, such actions are absolutely illegal

Unfortunately, the story took place not in the United States, but in Dubai, and the laws there are obviously different

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Finally, some internet users related to the story and decided to share their own similar experiences

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rachaelopenmic avatar
Rachael Mary Stanley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You don't think just white people do this, do you? I had a nightmare trying to get a bedsit in London mid 90s. People were allowed racist adverts such as "Carribbean household only" yet I never saw any saying "Irish/White only". Later on, I looked for places with my then boyfriend, Malaysian. Many (uber religious) black landlords had an issue with unmarried couples, me being on benefits was a problem for others and then we found somewhere that I thought was perfect. Very pleasant tenant showed us around. My boyfriend was friendly enough until we'd left: "I'm not sharing a house with a bunch of Pakistanis." So whitey here had no problem with it - just good old fashioned Asian-on-Asian racism.

robert-townsend avatar
Billy The Kid
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Heard that saying? dont judge a book by its cover? You never know what the story is about until you have read it. People are people and each person is different. No matter what ethnicity or colour they are you can never ignore the fact they they are a human being. If you want to shake my hand then i will shake yours. If not then jog on because i haven't got time for you!

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truthmonster00 avatar
Truth Monster
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Bored Panda should really say what country these tweets are from. Its dishonest to pose this article without it, and apparently the property in question was in the United Arab Emirates, not in the West.

remiflynne avatar
Remi Flynne
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It is somewhat disingenuous of the author of the post to raise the point about the Fair Housing act as it is, in this instance, irrelevant. The story stands perfectly well without it.

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aerylbailey avatar
Gilda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is really gross the thing i dont understand about this paranoia people have with middle eastern people is the majority of the major shootings and stuff like that recently in this country have actually been perpetrated by our fellow Americans the point being is you just dont know who will go crazy as cat s**t one day so you may as well treat everybody with respect and decency and dignity until they actually give you a tangible reason to be an a*****e

olmat avatar
Francisco Scaramanga
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Somehow I feel that the apartment belongs to the owner who has the right to rent it to whomever he wants ...

snorincats avatar
Kathy Baylis
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Depends on local rental laws. Not sure how it is in Dubai, but you’re not allowed to do this in the US. I think it was called “redlining” back in the day: real estate maps with b******t red lines around “certain” neighborhoods to steer prospective home buyers toward or away from, depending on their skin color. Totally disregarding the fact that, in the US at least, all money is green, regardless of whose bank account/wallet/hand it’s in. Just think of all the lost sales—-and commissions—-from this practice! (I’m not a capitalist, but pointing out loss of revenue/income like this might make a rather persuasive argument to use on at least some of the more money-worshipping diehards.)

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robert-townsend avatar
Billy The Kid
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Its his loss. If he dont like Asians and gave you the room he would only screw you over anyway like putting the rent up, not doing any repairs and so on... its what you call a slum landlord!

lydiacoy_2 avatar
Lydia Coy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I get trouble with this too. Im not anything related to being black im tanned but i still get called a n****er. People can be racist af. *Sorry if i sounded rasict myself. I love black people they're awsome*

robmonkeypimp avatar
Chutney Hawkes
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's awesome people of all races, colours, religions, sexualities etc. Don't let the small percentage of small-minded, braindead dickheads give you a negative view of the world.

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kbush5168 avatar
Kim Bush
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There was no reason for him to even ask that question. The building owner should be informed, he might not know the landlord is such a *#%*!

rolandkreslin avatar
Roland Kreslin
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Typical. You ate from USA. Aren't you? And probably you don't own a flat you can give for rent. If you would have.. You would think otherwise

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rhon avatar
Rhon
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Many years ago (33) before we got married we were looking for home loans. My then fiancé now husband, is from Chinese heritage. One bank wouldn't give him an appointment to find out about their loans and another bank, who I dealt with on my own, told me that our loan had been approved and we just had to drop in with some papers as a formality. My husband took the papers in and two days later I got the phone call to say our loan had been denied. This was in Australia.

kathrynstretton avatar
kathryn stretton
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This has been happening forever. We all know it too. Wish I had more confidence that real change will come. But I don't. Best I and we can hope for is another step forwards, sadly. Not enough, but better than nothing. Not good enough though. Not at all.

snorincats avatar
Kathy Baylis
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Personally, as long as they’re not loud and obnoxious, I really don’t care what “demographic” my neighbors are part of. But I do think that living in a more diverse neighborhood is way more interesting and cool than being surrounded by people just like yourself. When I was 13, my parents and I moved to the Los Angeles area from a small town in Maryland. First day of school, I found myself in class with a much wider variety of people than I had ever known—-and I loved every minute of it! Getting to know people whose walks of life were totally different from mine, I realized that we are all so much more alike than different. I did eventually move away, and back to a smaller town, but consider myself lucky to have had that kind of enriching experience at 13 rather than 30, 40, 50 or older. I wasn’t old enough to consider it culture shock. To me it was just school, only a helluva lot cooler than school had ever been before.

donhummy avatar
Don Hummy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hmmm. It's always easy to place the race card. I'm not saying this isn't it, but let me use some examples of my own. I've rented out houses for many years. I've had good tenants and many, many bad tenants. One particular race that I have rented houses to has consistently played me out by just giving bounced checks and then staying in the house and not paying rent because they can abuse the system (one stayed over a year with no rent). After having the same race do this to me 5 times in a row, I don't rent to them anymore. It's not me being racist, I just simply can't afford to give these people free housing at my expense (never mind the condition of the house they leave it in). It's no longer racism, just smart business sense for me. Again, not saying this is the issue here, but people need to realize the full picture and the full scope of the world we live in.

anotherlittlething avatar
Jill Pulcifer
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had this same sort of trouble trying to find a place to rent with three kids several years back. With 5 in the family we were excluded instantly from everything that had anything to do with the state, max 2 beds in all buildings, max 4 people. So that left only private landlords who heard three kids and wanted nothing more to do with me.

215973 avatar
rolandkreslin avatar
Roland Kreslin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No it's not. Probably he had a bad experience with Pakistani people. It's his. He can give it for rent for whomever he want or don't want.

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joodith227 avatar
Mumof1
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why would a lanlord even ask the question "where are you from?" It doesn't make sense.

rolandkreslin avatar
Roland Kreslin
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Because he won't waste time with somebody who he don't want to give it for rent

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priyabuccheit avatar
Tara Ray
Community Member
2 years ago

It’s says it’s from Dubai for all you cry babies saying “it’s not all white people”

noshere avatar
Nos Here
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is very very common in India. If you are a muslim or Christian then chances of getting an accomodation on rent is very difficult. Owners first ask for name and then start talking. Even if you belong to the same city.

saskiaoostvogels avatar
Saskia Oostvogels
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am white. So was my then-partner back in the 90'ies. We went to view an apartment that was available. We called the owner telling him we liked it, so we made an apoitment to get things sorted out. My boyfriend looked a bit like Steven Tyler (wardrobewise) and when we came to the owner's door, he told us he rented the place out just before we came along. After that experience I had my mom call the owner and ask about the apartment. It was still available.

robmonkeypimp avatar
Chutney Hawkes
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It just shows that racism will never be eradicated. That sounds like a grim statement from me but I'll elaborate. What I'm really saying is that the majority of society would never dream of intentionally judging someone because they're different to themselves but... There's always going to be some d******d (or pockets of dickheads) who are bigoted, racist, ignorant, thick twats. Even in the year 3000 (if humanity makes it that far) there'll be a small percentage of dickheads. We're not terrible people as a society, definitely not perfect by any means but society in a damn side better regarding bigotry than it was at the beginning of last century.

politecat42 avatar
politecat 42
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Amen. People who hanker for the old days are always closet bigots. Things are generally improving

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robertocarlosvalerio avatar
velocirrober
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to date someone with an 'ethnic' first name and a 'non-ethnic' middle name. He used his middle name when he looked for apartments, otherwise, the potential landlords wouldn't even return calls or requests.

rownee_70 avatar
Datsuyama
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Totally jacked if authentically discriminated against... but devil's advocate - it was 5 hours later, it is *possible* it had been rented in that time.

stanimira_deleva avatar
Pacifico Fernandez
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Have you ever considered for even one second that landlords might have had some seriously bad experiences with Pakistani, Eastern europeans (or other backgrounds)? Why is racist when every time you rent your house to a certain ethnicity, when they leave it is a disaster and you have to give 10 times the deposit to repair damages? I have seen some people in Europe (non europeans) cleaning the whole kitchen with buckets of water, because they do it in their countries in this way, but european houses are different and the climate is different and so on. And many of those stereotypes might stand to be true - many asians have very very large families, don't repair if something is broken, don't pay on time, are very loud, when they cook the whole neighbourhood smells and so on. It is an amazing culture, but landlords care about their property. Are you going to be happy if there is a loud family with 10 children above you and if you complain, they always cry"racist". go on - downvote

brittaniakelli avatar
Brittania Kelli
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Assuming a whole race or ethnic group acts the same way because of the examples set by a few is prejudice. It is no different to discriminate housing based on ethnicity/race/religion/gender as it is to say all Muslims are terrorists, All Jews are whatever, all black people are whatever. These prejudices are the beginnings of racism and xenophobia. Like I said to the racist landlord I was held up at gun point by a black man, I don’t go around assuming all black men are going to hold me up, because I have common sense. Now, I don’t know about you, but being robbed at gun point seems like a more traumatic experience than having your property not looked after in the way you desire, so if after my traumatic experience I can still understand reason and statistics to stand up against prejudice, then why can’t a landlord? Now this is Bored Panda, people come here for lighthearted and heart warming stories so can the few vocal people arguing in support of racism, and xenophobia please Shut up?

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ddw2945 avatar
Curry on...
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In some US jurisdictions, if the landlord lives on the premises (or in an attached duplex), they are allowed to 'discriminate,' unfortunately.

lkkreder avatar
Lauren Reder
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am a landlord and can't believe this guy is so oblivious to the law he'd violate it so obviously and in writing. I am very careful to never discourage people from viewing our homes or applying. This should be taken to whichever regulatory body enforces Fair Housing. The strength of the application and credit should be the deciding factor.

blasphemousriots avatar
Rick
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It took place in Dubai, Fair Housing laws don’t apply. If you’ve ever been to Dubai and see the contempt displayed for certain ethnicities, this is no surprise at all. It’s not uncommon for rich families to bring in people from poorer countries to work for them and then confiscate their passports so they can’t leave. I’m not making this up, google it.

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rolandkreslin avatar
Roland Kreslin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Landlord here. I have given my flats three times to family from middle east countries. Once for. An iraqi family and two time for Pakistani families. And that will never happen again. Obviously they don't learn in this countries how to take care of stuff, pay the rent in time and how to clean. That's not racist. That's experience you gather as a landlord. Never happened to any other families i gave my flats for rent. And yes... They were all european.

sarahelizablough avatar
Sarah Blough
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Thats literally racism....youre assuming that every middle eastern person is like that, and thus discriminating

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rolandkreslin avatar
Roland Kreslin
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

@al Jones nowhere written the owner said I don't give it to you because you are from Pakistan. He simply stated.. No flat for you. Good luck with sueing him. You people don't seem to understand. It's HIS property. HE may give it for rent to whomever HE want. And if he don't want to give it to this one particular guy, its HIS decision. No matter if you think its racist because YOU make it up in your head that it's racist. He didn't say it is because you are Pakistani.

shopgirl_ny2010 avatar
Kelly
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Well Julija, maybe this is partly due to Covid-19. Not always it's about racism.

ilikepie22334 avatar
John Smith
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

And then there's the chance that the landlord actually did rent it already. Which would make Abbas' grievance quite unfounded -- BUT, it sure will make him fit in great here in victimhood-olympics-USA !

joicain avatar
Yayaboobo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Now you know that's probably not the case. Most likely he was discriminated against. Why do people claim that people lie or are babies when they are being discriminated against? White people are less likely to acknowledge the existence of racist incidents. When Black people are being prejudiced they know they are because they do it on purpose, with purpose, it's usually as a reaction to what was done to them.

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rachaelopenmic avatar
Rachael Mary Stanley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You don't think just white people do this, do you? I had a nightmare trying to get a bedsit in London mid 90s. People were allowed racist adverts such as "Carribbean household only" yet I never saw any saying "Irish/White only". Later on, I looked for places with my then boyfriend, Malaysian. Many (uber religious) black landlords had an issue with unmarried couples, me being on benefits was a problem for others and then we found somewhere that I thought was perfect. Very pleasant tenant showed us around. My boyfriend was friendly enough until we'd left: "I'm not sharing a house with a bunch of Pakistanis." So whitey here had no problem with it - just good old fashioned Asian-on-Asian racism.

robert-townsend avatar
Billy The Kid
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Heard that saying? dont judge a book by its cover? You never know what the story is about until you have read it. People are people and each person is different. No matter what ethnicity or colour they are you can never ignore the fact they they are a human being. If you want to shake my hand then i will shake yours. If not then jog on because i haven't got time for you!

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truthmonster00 avatar
Truth Monster
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Bored Panda should really say what country these tweets are from. Its dishonest to pose this article without it, and apparently the property in question was in the United Arab Emirates, not in the West.

remiflynne avatar
Remi Flynne
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It is somewhat disingenuous of the author of the post to raise the point about the Fair Housing act as it is, in this instance, irrelevant. The story stands perfectly well without it.

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aerylbailey avatar
Gilda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is really gross the thing i dont understand about this paranoia people have with middle eastern people is the majority of the major shootings and stuff like that recently in this country have actually been perpetrated by our fellow Americans the point being is you just dont know who will go crazy as cat s**t one day so you may as well treat everybody with respect and decency and dignity until they actually give you a tangible reason to be an a*****e

olmat avatar
Francisco Scaramanga
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Somehow I feel that the apartment belongs to the owner who has the right to rent it to whomever he wants ...

snorincats avatar
Kathy Baylis
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Depends on local rental laws. Not sure how it is in Dubai, but you’re not allowed to do this in the US. I think it was called “redlining” back in the day: real estate maps with b******t red lines around “certain” neighborhoods to steer prospective home buyers toward or away from, depending on their skin color. Totally disregarding the fact that, in the US at least, all money is green, regardless of whose bank account/wallet/hand it’s in. Just think of all the lost sales—-and commissions—-from this practice! (I’m not a capitalist, but pointing out loss of revenue/income like this might make a rather persuasive argument to use on at least some of the more money-worshipping diehards.)

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robert-townsend avatar
Billy The Kid
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Its his loss. If he dont like Asians and gave you the room he would only screw you over anyway like putting the rent up, not doing any repairs and so on... its what you call a slum landlord!

lydiacoy_2 avatar
Lydia Coy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I get trouble with this too. Im not anything related to being black im tanned but i still get called a n****er. People can be racist af. *Sorry if i sounded rasict myself. I love black people they're awsome*

robmonkeypimp avatar
Chutney Hawkes
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's awesome people of all races, colours, religions, sexualities etc. Don't let the small percentage of small-minded, braindead dickheads give you a negative view of the world.

Load More Replies...
kbush5168 avatar
Kim Bush
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There was no reason for him to even ask that question. The building owner should be informed, he might not know the landlord is such a *#%*!

rolandkreslin avatar
Roland Kreslin
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Typical. You ate from USA. Aren't you? And probably you don't own a flat you can give for rent. If you would have.. You would think otherwise

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rhon avatar
Rhon
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Many years ago (33) before we got married we were looking for home loans. My then fiancé now husband, is from Chinese heritage. One bank wouldn't give him an appointment to find out about their loans and another bank, who I dealt with on my own, told me that our loan had been approved and we just had to drop in with some papers as a formality. My husband took the papers in and two days later I got the phone call to say our loan had been denied. This was in Australia.

kathrynstretton avatar
kathryn stretton
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This has been happening forever. We all know it too. Wish I had more confidence that real change will come. But I don't. Best I and we can hope for is another step forwards, sadly. Not enough, but better than nothing. Not good enough though. Not at all.

snorincats avatar
Kathy Baylis
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Personally, as long as they’re not loud and obnoxious, I really don’t care what “demographic” my neighbors are part of. But I do think that living in a more diverse neighborhood is way more interesting and cool than being surrounded by people just like yourself. When I was 13, my parents and I moved to the Los Angeles area from a small town in Maryland. First day of school, I found myself in class with a much wider variety of people than I had ever known—-and I loved every minute of it! Getting to know people whose walks of life were totally different from mine, I realized that we are all so much more alike than different. I did eventually move away, and back to a smaller town, but consider myself lucky to have had that kind of enriching experience at 13 rather than 30, 40, 50 or older. I wasn’t old enough to consider it culture shock. To me it was just school, only a helluva lot cooler than school had ever been before.

donhummy avatar
Don Hummy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hmmm. It's always easy to place the race card. I'm not saying this isn't it, but let me use some examples of my own. I've rented out houses for many years. I've had good tenants and many, many bad tenants. One particular race that I have rented houses to has consistently played me out by just giving bounced checks and then staying in the house and not paying rent because they can abuse the system (one stayed over a year with no rent). After having the same race do this to me 5 times in a row, I don't rent to them anymore. It's not me being racist, I just simply can't afford to give these people free housing at my expense (never mind the condition of the house they leave it in). It's no longer racism, just smart business sense for me. Again, not saying this is the issue here, but people need to realize the full picture and the full scope of the world we live in.

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Jill Pulcifer
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had this same sort of trouble trying to find a place to rent with three kids several years back. With 5 in the family we were excluded instantly from everything that had anything to do with the state, max 2 beds in all buildings, max 4 people. So that left only private landlords who heard three kids and wanted nothing more to do with me.

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Roland Kreslin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No it's not. Probably he had a bad experience with Pakistani people. It's his. He can give it for rent for whomever he want or don't want.

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Mumof1
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why would a lanlord even ask the question "where are you from?" It doesn't make sense.

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Roland Kreslin
Community Member
3 years ago

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Because he won't waste time with somebody who he don't want to give it for rent

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Tara Ray
Community Member
2 years ago

It’s says it’s from Dubai for all you cry babies saying “it’s not all white people”

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Nos Here
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is very very common in India. If you are a muslim or Christian then chances of getting an accomodation on rent is very difficult. Owners first ask for name and then start talking. Even if you belong to the same city.

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Saskia Oostvogels
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am white. So was my then-partner back in the 90'ies. We went to view an apartment that was available. We called the owner telling him we liked it, so we made an apoitment to get things sorted out. My boyfriend looked a bit like Steven Tyler (wardrobewise) and when we came to the owner's door, he told us he rented the place out just before we came along. After that experience I had my mom call the owner and ask about the apartment. It was still available.

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Chutney Hawkes
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It just shows that racism will never be eradicated. That sounds like a grim statement from me but I'll elaborate. What I'm really saying is that the majority of society would never dream of intentionally judging someone because they're different to themselves but... There's always going to be some d******d (or pockets of dickheads) who are bigoted, racist, ignorant, thick twats. Even in the year 3000 (if humanity makes it that far) there'll be a small percentage of dickheads. We're not terrible people as a society, definitely not perfect by any means but society in a damn side better regarding bigotry than it was at the beginning of last century.

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politecat 42
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Amen. People who hanker for the old days are always closet bigots. Things are generally improving

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velocirrober
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to date someone with an 'ethnic' first name and a 'non-ethnic' middle name. He used his middle name when he looked for apartments, otherwise, the potential landlords wouldn't even return calls or requests.

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Datsuyama
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Totally jacked if authentically discriminated against... but devil's advocate - it was 5 hours later, it is *possible* it had been rented in that time.

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Pacifico Fernandez
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Have you ever considered for even one second that landlords might have had some seriously bad experiences with Pakistani, Eastern europeans (or other backgrounds)? Why is racist when every time you rent your house to a certain ethnicity, when they leave it is a disaster and you have to give 10 times the deposit to repair damages? I have seen some people in Europe (non europeans) cleaning the whole kitchen with buckets of water, because they do it in their countries in this way, but european houses are different and the climate is different and so on. And many of those stereotypes might stand to be true - many asians have very very large families, don't repair if something is broken, don't pay on time, are very loud, when they cook the whole neighbourhood smells and so on. It is an amazing culture, but landlords care about their property. Are you going to be happy if there is a loud family with 10 children above you and if you complain, they always cry"racist". go on - downvote

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Brittania Kelli
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Assuming a whole race or ethnic group acts the same way because of the examples set by a few is prejudice. It is no different to discriminate housing based on ethnicity/race/religion/gender as it is to say all Muslims are terrorists, All Jews are whatever, all black people are whatever. These prejudices are the beginnings of racism and xenophobia. Like I said to the racist landlord I was held up at gun point by a black man, I don’t go around assuming all black men are going to hold me up, because I have common sense. Now, I don’t know about you, but being robbed at gun point seems like a more traumatic experience than having your property not looked after in the way you desire, so if after my traumatic experience I can still understand reason and statistics to stand up against prejudice, then why can’t a landlord? Now this is Bored Panda, people come here for lighthearted and heart warming stories so can the few vocal people arguing in support of racism, and xenophobia please Shut up?

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Curry on...
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In some US jurisdictions, if the landlord lives on the premises (or in an attached duplex), they are allowed to 'discriminate,' unfortunately.

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Lauren Reder
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am a landlord and can't believe this guy is so oblivious to the law he'd violate it so obviously and in writing. I am very careful to never discourage people from viewing our homes or applying. This should be taken to whichever regulatory body enforces Fair Housing. The strength of the application and credit should be the deciding factor.

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Rick
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It took place in Dubai, Fair Housing laws don’t apply. If you’ve ever been to Dubai and see the contempt displayed for certain ethnicities, this is no surprise at all. It’s not uncommon for rich families to bring in people from poorer countries to work for them and then confiscate their passports so they can’t leave. I’m not making this up, google it.

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Roland Kreslin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Landlord here. I have given my flats three times to family from middle east countries. Once for. An iraqi family and two time for Pakistani families. And that will never happen again. Obviously they don't learn in this countries how to take care of stuff, pay the rent in time and how to clean. That's not racist. That's experience you gather as a landlord. Never happened to any other families i gave my flats for rent. And yes... They were all european.

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Sarah Blough
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Thats literally racism....youre assuming that every middle eastern person is like that, and thus discriminating

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Roland Kreslin
Community Member
3 years ago

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@al Jones nowhere written the owner said I don't give it to you because you are from Pakistan. He simply stated.. No flat for you. Good luck with sueing him. You people don't seem to understand. It's HIS property. HE may give it for rent to whomever HE want. And if he don't want to give it to this one particular guy, its HIS decision. No matter if you think its racist because YOU make it up in your head that it's racist. He didn't say it is because you are Pakistani.

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Kelly
Community Member
3 years ago

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Well Julija, maybe this is partly due to Covid-19. Not always it's about racism.

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John Smith
Community Member
3 years ago

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And then there's the chance that the landlord actually did rent it already. Which would make Abbas' grievance quite unfounded -- BUT, it sure will make him fit in great here in victimhood-olympics-USA !

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Yayaboobo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Now you know that's probably not the case. Most likely he was discriminated against. Why do people claim that people lie or are babies when they are being discriminated against? White people are less likely to acknowledge the existence of racist incidents. When Black people are being prejudiced they know they are because they do it on purpose, with purpose, it's usually as a reaction to what was done to them.

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