Doral Landings East, a gated Miami suburb consisting mainly of single-family homes, is experiencing an immigrant exodus.
But the community of 80,000 people, about 40% of whom are Venezuelan, is experiencing greater vacancy rates than surrounding communities. In Doral, vacancy rates have increased from 5.6% late last year to 6.5%, above vacancies in surrounding communities where rates are 4.3%.
At the same time, Doral apartment building owners are reportedly turning away families under temporary permission as worries mount that Trump could suddenly make them illegal residents in the U.S.
Experts say this could violate federal and state fair housing laws by discriminating against one’s nation of origin, regardless of their immigration status.
If a landlord turns a potential tenant away for suspecting they’re not a citizen, that would be a violation of the civil rights law, Gregory Vincent, founder of Gregory Vincent Law based in Columbus, Ohio, told Fortune.
The Fair Housing Act was enacted as Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and is designed to prohibit discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability.
Tenants rejected on the basis of their immigration status could be entitled to punitive damages, Vincent said.
Vincent, who’s also a former regional legal affairs director for the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, said asking for someone’s immigration status is outside the regular information needed by renters for landlords to make sure they can pay, which includes things like a Social Security number, employment status, and credit history.
“All of those things are legitimate, but the idea that you’re gonna ask someone’s immigration status, in my opinion, that’s a step too far,” Vincent said.
Yet, Raul Gastesi, commercial litigation and transaction attorney and partner at Gastesi Lopez Mestre & Cobiella, told Fortune immigration status has become a problem and financial risk that landlords have to consider as the Trump administration works to revoke temporary protected status of millions of immigrants.
If temporary status is revoked, the affected individuals can’t work, cutting off the income they would’ve used to pay rent, said Gastesi, who represents landlords for single- and multi-family housing.
It can be a months-long process to evict someone, and landlords are losing income during that time, he added.
Still, landlords can’t make blanket statements like they’re not going to rent to any immigrants or to anyone on a temporary status, Gastesi acknowledged.
“I see the immigrant’s position, but I also see the landlord’s position. None of it is easy.”
