Do you know of a landlord who deeply cares about his tenant's health by imposing regulations on what the renter should eat? A story about this kind of property-owner, Jinesh Varia, was posted by Lisa Davis in Realtor®, and many were introduced to a unique way of marketing a rental property and promoting the landlord's favorite cause on environmental activism through vegetarianism.
Varia has a 1,566-square foot, three-bedroom townhouse with a Jacuzzi tub and fireplace, located in a suburb in Seattle, Bothell in Washington. He is renting this property because his nine-month-old baby has started to crawl and the place is not fully child-proof. He is offering a $200 discount on the monthly rent which is $2,200, to possible renters who will support his advocacy and commit not to eat meat.
This landlord is a member the Vegetarians of Washington, an independent, non-profit organization with the mission of helping people improve their health and well-being by encouraging Americans to discover the advantages and pleasures of vegetarian food, and by providing support and service to the vegetarian community.
Varia sees his choice for tenants who are herbivores as something similar to no-smoking policies, which he accepts as a way to keep rental properties from smelling bad, more than the purpose of avoiding lung cancer.
"I really believe, just like the no smoking policy that all landlords have today, that we can promote this as a way to spread awareness. See if I can create a trend," Varia explained to NBC affiliate King 5.
Davis listed some considerations for Varia to take:
1. Meat eaters might take his policy, though new, as a weird form of housing discrimination.
2. There are opinions that being a vegetarian actually costs more.
3. There is no guarantee that vegetarians make better tenants.
4. There is no certainty that the tenant will really stick to being a vegetarian, unless the landlord plans to rummage through the trash to look for bones and other traces of meat.
