Okay so students, pets, children, males, teenagers, early 20’s – all cop the short end of the stick when applying for rental property. Some agents do discriminate rather than judge an application on its merits.

And while there are anti-discrimination laws, anti-sexism laws, anti-ageism laws etc, the unfortunate reality is that agents, by virtue of the law, do not need to give a reason why someone has been placed in the property over someone else.

The interesting thing about the executive market this year is that many of the higher-end properties are being snapped up by overseas students with very little/no rental history who are here on large government grants.  And unfortunately there are very few corporate execs around, so landlords haven’t had the choice of tenants they’ve had in the past.

So, what’s the best way of dealing with this?

Well firstly if the rent is over $500 per week ($700 after July 1st 2009) you can nominate any bond you like!  So take 6/8 weeks rent instead of just 4. Think outside the box – could you include a cleaner in the rent so there is another pair of eyes watching over the property?

I write this in genuine fear that I’ll be slapped with some sort of anti discrimination suit, but the fact is I’m trying to educate people that students/pets/children/young males can make absolutely fantastic tenants, just as females can be dreadful tenants. So don’t discount them but in order to be worry free just come up with a way to ensure that you’re protecting yourself while still giving someone their chance. They deserve it!