Can you refuse to rent to students in Texas?

Question

I was recently looking for a new place to rent in Richardson, TX when one of the places I had contacted took me by surprise by opening with “no students” amongst a few other requirements. Is this legal?

A little context might help: the property is a single family suburban home, with a normal income requirement of 3x yearly rent which is $85,000. So, if a student is earning that amount, wouldn’t this be illegal to refuse them, as it seems to be based on something like age discrimination (under the same rules that you can’t refuse ‘people who wear dresses’ under gender discrimination rules)?

Answer 1

Yes, this is legal, unless Richardson, TX has a specific local law making it illegal.

In the US, discrimination is legal, unless it discriminates against one or more specific enumerated classes.

Under federal law, and as far as I am aware, Texas law, students are NOT a protected class. As such discrimination against them is legal, unless Richardson, TX or its incorporating county have a specific law or regulation prohibiting it.

Incidentally, age is generally not a protected class, and when it is a protected class, it is generally only illegal to discriminate against people above a specified age, not below.

Note that discrimination happens all the time, over a variety of factors, that many people don't even consider discrimination. For example, many colleges and universities discriminate on the basis of GPAs for acceptance to various programs; this is legal. In the past, many colleges and universities discriminated against potential students on the basis of sex or race, which is now illegal.