You Suck at Craigslist

YSaC, Vol. 292: It doesn’t stop everyone else!

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drmk

in

$250 i need a room (agri center)

seeking a room around $250/month near Agricenter. i guess i wouldn’t want to say more than that or, craigslist informs, one will be legally persecuted, lose their job, and be fined 10,000 dollars. yet, maybe i am doomed by saying that i am “seeking” a room, or that it is “$250”, or that it is “near Agricenter”. i can but pray that the FBI doesn’t pick up on this one.

Here’s craigslist’s policy on discriminatory preference in a housing post — this is what you see when you begin to create a housing wanted or housing available posting:

Stating a discriminatory preference in a housing post is illegal, is prohibited on craigslist, and can be expensive:

  • you can be fined more than $10,000 for each discriminatory ad, plus damages in court, plus loss of license if you are a professional
  • avoid phrases which could be interpreted as discriminating by race/color/origin (e.g. ‘hispanic area‘), religion (e.g. ‘christian home‘), age / familial status (e.g. ‘no kids‘), disability, or sexual orientation
  • the words you choose can cost you – get the facts and avoid being prosecuted under fair housing law

This one makes me wonder if “seeking a room” is a euphemism for “I won’t live with minorities or homosexuals” and “near Agricenter” means “I’ll only live in a white neighborhood”. The fact that he has to bring up the policy says to me that he does have some preferences but doesn’t feel as though he can list them for fear of being ‘persecuted’.

Otherwise, it just seems like this guy is either a smartass or a little too paranoid.

Thanks, Lesley!

Comments

11 responses to “YSaC, Vol. 292: It doesn’t stop everyone else!”

  1. woofless Avatar
    woofless

    Seems to me the “Sane White Male” from a few days ago didn’t read the Craigslist policy before he posted his diatribe. I think he may have violated every single rule. Makes me wonder, if he does get fined for housing discrimination, will he pay the fines on the 1st of the month by placing the rent directly in the police-officer’s hand?
    As for this guy, if the Agricenter is in San Diego, maybe the Sane White Male and this Paranoid Smartass can chip in & rent a place together? Now wouldn’t THAT be a lovely couple?

  2. specialkt Avatar
    specialkt

    he fails to realize you can be fined more than 10k for EACH infraction. too bad theres no fine for being a moron.

  3. corn flakes Avatar
    corn flakes

    Yeah, i really wouldn’t want to rent to someone who is already angry and passive-aggressive with some odd chip on their shoulder.

  4. Hungarican Stephanie Avatar
    Hungarican Stephanie

    “The douchebag doth protest too much, methinks.”

  5. Sarah Jane Avatar
    Sarah Jane

    hey, i “just might” have a “room” in my “crawl space” for him. funny guy.

  6. CE Blog Avatar
    CE Blog

    He could be paranoid AND a smartass…

  7. Rebecca_J Avatar
    Rebecca_J

    I imagine the policy probably triggered some kind of latent WASP rage, kind of like when people who’re called out for being racist say you are “attacking their free speech.” Except he had to embellish it a lot to make it seem worse. Either that or he’s referring to some kind of slippery slope where today you can’t state a preference for “no blacks” and tomorrow all grovelling whites are being whipped by the wrathful chains of their Coloured Overlords.
    Can you seriously not say “no kids allowed?” I mean like if you’re just looking for roommates or something? Sheesh.

  8. seaside Avatar
    seaside

    Yes, this guy sounds like an ass.
    (As for being able to state “no kids,” I’m fairly certain that most housing discrimination laws make exceptions for units that are owner-occupied, like with roommates)

    1. Charlene Avatar
      Charlene

      And for places outside the US where it’s perfectly legal and even common to specify “no kids” in rental ads. Where I’m from, about 99.99% of apartment rentals bar kids from their buildings, which means that if you have kids you’re usually stuck renting in unsafe basement suites if you can’t afford to rent a house (ie. if you don’t have $1,600 a month).

  9. Haeze Avatar
    Haeze

    I hope I am not the only person who saw this and caught on that the guy is looking for a grow-house… He isn’t trying to be racist or anything, he is looking for a grow-house in a nicer part of town so as to make it less suspicious, and the “no kids” thing is to avoid curious kids meddling.

    1. drmk Avatar
      drmk

      Actually, the city this ad was placed in has an area of town known as “Agricenter.”

      Only the first part of the post is his ad; the second part is where I reposted Craigslist’s policy on discriminatory preference in housing so that folks could see it. So the guy isn’t asking for a “no kids” situation, and I’m not seeing anything in his post that implies looking for a grow house.

      I read this just as some guy who’s complaining about Craigslist’s nondiscrimination policy.

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