Actress finds it hard to find a rented house in Mumbai
Actress Lauren Gottlieb
Actress Lauren Gottlieb is struggling to find a house on rent in Mumbai after being rejected for the fifteenth time over the last two months. The experience has a sense of déjà vu for the young dancer-actress as she had a similar one three years back.
Reminiscing her harrowing days, she says, “Three years ago, I came here as a contestant of dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, and I was pretty much homeless. I stayed at a friend’s house for the first six months and then moving in and out of my friends’ flats in Lokhandwala and other parts of Andheri. I was a top contestant on one of the biggest shows, but I wasn’t even given a home in this country. I checked out many places in Andheri, Juhu and Bandra — 37, to be precise. But I was not given a flat because I am a foreigner, an actor, and young and single.”
The actress who featured in Remo D’Souza’s ABCD and its sequel was able to find a rented flat with the help of the movie’s production unit and her involvement in the community helped her become friends with the landlord and broker. She says, “My landlord and broker have become friends with me because I got involved with the community here. The landlord appreciates that I did up the flat, changed the water heater and wall colours. So, they know that it doesn’t make sense to not let out flats to foreigners,”
However, when the time came for her to move to a much bigger and quieter place, she has found it extremely difficult to find one due to her nationality (Lauren hails from Arizona) and profession. Till date, at least 15 landlords have rejected her under the perceived notion renting her the flat would create a hassle for them. Lauren says, “Here, it gets really noisy due to traffic and road construction. So, I want to move out. I have seen 12-15 houses in various localities of Bandra and Khar, but in vain. Landlords have the perception that I am an actress, so I might throw late night parties and disturb them. But I never host parties at house. The fact that I am a foreigner and a single woman is also a problem. It is shocking since Mumbai is a global metro, not a small town. But it’s the general mentality of landlords that creates trouble. That needs to change,”
Upon enquiring as to what is the reason for single women to find a house, real estate agent Prakash G Rohira says,” There is no gender bias; unmarried men and women face same problems. They are mostly told that since they are single, the landlords are skeptical that they might return home late or throw parties and create nuisance. But the bigger reason is that landlords know that the housing society will not allow bachelors on rent. Eighty per cent of the problem is created by the society and the rest by the landlords themselves
Concurring with his fellow professional, Siddhanth Gupta, a broker from Bandra, explains “If she were married, it would have been easier for her to find an apartment because societies prefer families. Besides, it is more difficult for single foreigners, and the problem is not just restricted to Andheri or Bandra, but almost every corner of the city. More than landlords, the societies object,” he explains.
While the sentiments of the landlords are understandable but for Lauren its becoming an uphill task to find a shelter for herself.
