Ferrara «When the owner of a house is burned by a negative experience with a tenant, he often becomes wary of certain types of tenants, whether they are Italian or foreign. But it is an economic question, not linked to origin or skin color.” Cristina Boni is the president of Fimaa Ferrara, the federation representing brokers and real estate agents. According to the testimonies collected by Nuova at the Cittadini del Mondo headquarters, people of color have difficulty finding a home, encountering prejudice and discrimination on the part of the owners and consequently of the agents themselves.
«I speak for my members – is the president’s premise – but I can say that the same priority, for all cases, is to ensure the owners have the right guarantees, without distinctions and discrimination. The tenant is required to have an employment contract and an adequate salary and this applies to Italians and foreigners.” Finding an apartment, continues Cristina Boni, «is still difficult because the majority of owners prefer to rent to university students, and have adapted the apartment to accommodate this type of tenant, knowing they can count on the parents’ guarantee for payment. This is also why families find it more difficult to find a home. Then it is true that perhaps students leave the property in terrible conditions, and this negative experience then makes the owner wary of a certain type of tenant. But, once again, it applies to everyone.”
«It has never happened – assures Roberto Marzola, owner of Immobiliare Progetto Casa – that a client has told us that he does not want foreign tenants». But the point is, in the end, «that it is the owners who decide. If for various reasons they don’t trust a tenant because they fear he won’t be able to pay and they back out, we can’t force them and we respect their choice.” And the latter, adds Marzola, is dictated by exclusively practical and convenience reasons, and by the economic situation of the person applying to rent the property: «I’ll give you an example: on a rent of 500 euros there are those who find it excessive three months’ bail. But we must think that those who make a property available want to feel protected, and 1,500 euros is not just nothing compared to the risk of damage, of having to pay condominium expenses if the tenant does not provide, taxes or those maintenance interventions which are to the owner. Not to mention cases of serious arrears.”
Furthermore, the explosion in university enrollments has changed the dynamics of rentals, and students are the ones who dominate because they don’t “secure” the house with long contracts and it is simpler and quicker to repossess it. For this reason they remain the priority choice for the majority of property owners, «even though, sometimes – concludes Marzola – with the disadvantage of renting the house to three people only to then discover that five people live there. But the owners treasure negative experiences, every negative experience, regardless of skin.”
