Once upon a time, it was understood that a property owner could decide who they wanted to rent to – or who they did not want to rent to – based upon pretty much any standard they chose to set. After all, the government really had no business interfering in that decision on whether or not to enter into a contract with another.

Unfortunately, government decided to get involved. Sometimes it was through laws mandating racial or religious segregation, and later it was through laws banning such discrimination. As time moved on, we saw additional groups added to such “fair housing” laws, so that in many places one may not make such decisions based upon race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, family status, disability, veteran status, and a host of other criteria.

Do we now need to add laws preventing discrimination against those with tattoos and body/facial piercings?

Gilbert Carrillo thinks tattoos are an artform. He's been to tattoo conventions and one of his tattoos was featured in a magazine. "Ever since I was 18, to now, 25, bit by bit, covering up here, covering up there."
But last month, Carrillo's tattoos kept him and his wife, Melissa, from moving into an apartment complex called the Villas at Medical Center. "We liked the apartment, we brought them a check for the deposit and a check for the application fee," says Melissa.
Later, Gilbert went by to look at the apartment wearing a short sleeve shirt. The next day, the Carrillos were told they didn't qualify to live there, because the tattoos on Gilbert's arms violated the policy on personal appearance.
"For them to be so judgmental on a person's appearance, and for them to judge someone based on them having a tattoo is just ridiculous, you know," says Melissa.
The Carrillos were also upset that the manager refused to refund their full $70 application fee. But mostly, they feel the policy is discriminatory.

Ah, there we have the word – discriminatory. And they are, in fact right – but in the sense that one notices the differences among and between things and people and responds accordingly. There is no provision under the law that would (ordinarily) prohibit discrimination based upon body “art”.

We contacted one of the owners of the apartments: A southern California doctor named Edward Frankel.
Frankel e-mailed us a statement saying his apartment complexes do, in fact, "reject prospective tenants who have... tattoos exposed on the neck, head, hands and wrists, or large tattoos that cover over 40% of the lower or upper arm."
Frankel says, "We do not discriminate. The above applies to persons of any race, color, gender, etc."
Frankel, and his partners, have purchased numerous upscale apartment complexes in San Antonio and Dallas, where they've also banned pierced eyebrows and tongues. Tenants can't have more than one nose piercing, or more than five earrings.

Fine – this is the standard the owner wants. One can argue it is absurd, but that is one of the nice things about property ownership – you get to make decisions about how to use your property. Do we really need to go the next step and have the government act to ban such discrimination? I certainly hope not.

Unfortunately, we have added so many exceptions to the right to determine who one rents to that I wouldnÂ’t be surprised to see new law come out of this case. ThatÂ’s too bad, because what we really need to do is restore the property rights of owners by repealing all or most of the limits placed upon the rental of real estate. While there might be some individuals and companies that make decisions that I find despicable, the reality is that my standards should not ordinarily be the basis for limiting property rights. After all -- is it really freedom if citizens are only permitted to act according to the dictates of government and the majority (ore even a vocal minority) find acceptable?

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