What to know about renting property as an undocumented immigrant

MCALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Immigration has been a contentious issue for the past few months and questions over what is considered harboring have become a common topic as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids continue across the country.

ValleyCentral looked into what rights undocumented people have when it comes to housing and what landlords need to know.

Attorney Alex Martinez says all tenants, no matter their legal status, have the same equal rights.

“A tenant’s rights don’t say that they are suspended if they are an undocumented immigrant," Martinez said. "It does not work like that. The Fair Housing Act intentionally leaves out a person’s legal status in this country.”

The law says landlords cannot deny housing based on immigration status or national origin as long as the person meets financial and other requirements. Undocumented tenants also may take a landlord to court for breaches of a contract.

“If they evict a person without following the proper legal requirements, then those tenants have recourse and can file suit due to breach of contract and go to a small claims court with a justice of the peace; they don’t need an attorney, and the judge will go ahead and give them restitution," Martinez said.

Martinez says landlords also do not have to worry about housing somebody undocumented, as there is no legal process like E-Verify to check for status. He says harboring only happens when there is no rent being paid and the landlord is providing shelter and concealing the people.

“A lot of times it can be misunderstood," the attorney added. "For example, a person was behind rent but there was never an agreement that the rent was going to be waived or there was going to be free rent; then they could present charges and say, well, you are harboring individuals, you are letting them stay here and there is no landlord-tenant relationship.”

Martinez says emails and documents that show the landlord gave tenants time to catch up on rent without a deadline create a legal gray area. However, a landlord threatening to call ICE on their undocumented tenants does not have many defenses.

“You might want to find a place where you are not being mistreated, but the mere comment and the mere saying that they are going to call ICE, the saying does not create any type of recourse to do anything about that," Martinez said. "They shouldn’t be doing it but if they say it is not like the tenant is going to have a penalty placed on them or a fine.”

Martinez adds that landlords should not worry about a tenant’s legal status as long as there’s a valid rental agreement.