Finding a place to live in Mumbai can feel like running an obstacle course, and one Redditor’s recent experience showed just how tough that search can be.
The Reddit post, which included a WhatsApp conversation, described a broker asking questions that went far beyond rent, deposit, or paperwork.
“What has happened to the people of Mumbai!” the caption of the post reads.
Questions go beyond paperwork:
According to the Redditor, the broker repeatedly asked about the family’s dietary habits. When told that the Redditor’s in-laws, who would also live in the house, were non-vegetarian, the broker became more insistent.
The broker then shifted the conversation to religion. Even after the Redditor said the family was Hindu, the broker demanded their surname to “confirm” it.
When questioned about why such details were needed, the broker reportedly replied that the property owner “does not want to rent the house to Muslims.”
Long list of rejections:
The Redditor then added that this was not an isolated case. Another broker in Mumbai had earlier refused to allow a rental agreement in the in-laws’ name because they were “old,”.
Frustrated by these encounters, the Redditor described how difficult the rental hunt had become.
Redditor wrote that tenants are often rejected for being Muslim, a bachelor, a media student, an actor, a single mother, a lower caste, non-vegetarian, part of a live-in couple, a pet parent, or someone who does not speak the owner’s preferred language.
“So, who exactly is ‘entitled’ to rent a house?” the post adds.
Check out the post here:
Reddit reacts:
The Reddit post sparked a wave of reactions online, with many users saying they had faced similar hurdles while searching for a home in Mumbai.
One of the users commented, “I was once rejected because I work the afternoon to night shift, I am a woman. It was a huge point of contention.”
A second user commented, “I faced this too. So I decided to buy, and guess what? They (brokers) still asked me the same questions!”
A third user commented, “Mumbai is really shitty. I was rejected because I was non-vegetarian (Hindu). Another place, I was rejected because I was non-muslim.”
“The number of times I’ve been asked, ‘What’s your caste?’ by landlords in Mumbai is disturbing,” another user commented.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)