I (30M) live in Toronto and rent out one room in my flat. I’m originally from India and I specifically advertised the room as Indian female only.
It’s mainly for cultural compatibility, food habits, language comfort, etc. I’ve had issues in the past with mismatched expectations around cooking, guests, cleanliness standards, and so on, so I decided to be very clear this time.
A few weeks ago, a woman reached out from abroad. She had an Indian-sounding name, said she understood the expectations, and everything seemed fine over messages and calls. I agreed and held the room for her.
She arrived yesterday. The moment she started speaking, I noticed her accent didn’t sound Indian at all, more like French. It felt off, so I asked her directly where she was from. She admitted she’s not Indian and is actually from an african country called Mauritius.
Now apparently Mauritius has people of Indian origin, but she clearly isn’t culturally Indian in the way I meant in my ad, and I feel like she misrepresented herself to secure the place. If she had been upfront, I wouldn’t have agreed. She does not speak any Hindi or Punjabi.
Because of that, I told her she has 5 days to find another place and that I’ll be looking for a new flatmate who fits what I originally specified.
She got upset and said she didn’t think it mattered that much and that I was being unfair, especially since she just arrived in a new country.
I understand it’s inconvenient, but I also feel deceived and don’t think I should be forced into a living situation I explicitly tried to avoid.
Now I’m wondering if I’m being too rigid about this or if I’m justified since I was clear from the start.