The first time I encountered housing discrimination, I was caught by surprise.
As a renter I had to be vague on my applications, listing myself as an actress/model. Only when pushed did I offer up my affiliation with Playboy TV, which was apparently more palatable for the landlords than my collective body of work. The owner of the building, who’d been so friendly on a previous tour of the condo, invited me over to review the application I’d put in. I was young, had great credit and plenty of money, and had even agreed to put down three times the deposit. But it wasn’t enough. He grilled me about my employers in person, demanded to know why I did “it,” and wanted to know how I could “live with myself.” Then he pestered me about how many men I’d be having over, and told me how the walls were so thin that the whole building would know every time I had sex (he assumed porn stars are incapable of being quiet).
He made me feel dirtier than most of the sets I’d been on.
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Sure, I’ve had sex on countertops, couches, stairwells, and even hovering a toilet. Some of it was on-camera but not all the sex I’ve had was loud, obnoxious “porn” sex. I’ve never destroyed property or been evicted, so none of it should matter. Most people have sex, yet when a porn star does it the sex becomes a filthy act.
Dana Vespoli has worked in the adult industry for over 15 years, entering as a performer and quickly rising to directing and producing her own movies. Though she was successful, with a verifiable income and a job that allowed her to live anywhere, the challenges of moving were amplified at times due to her career. “It was always nerve-racking trying to rent a house, so I’d be as vague as possible with my job title and description. Even with good credit they’d want an extra deposit. There was always this assumption that something crazy would happen,” says Vespoli.
There was even a time when a rental agreement was altered, specifically for her. “They didn’t say anything to me directly, they just added an extra addendum to the rental agreement stating I wouldn’t shoot any adult content there,” recalls Vespoli. “My real estate agent laughed about it. She hadn’t seen anyone do that before.”
Sex-worker discrimination continues to be a problem. Ironically, as porn consumption skyrockets—with sites like Pornhub claiming an average of 81 million users a day—the shunning of sex workers persists. While many attempt to shy away from the stigma, there are those who embrace it and pay the cost.
For Evelyn Milano, there was a price to being “out” as a professional dominatrix, and it directly impacted the sale of her house. Buyers insisted on reduced pricing because of what had taken place in the house—or at least what they imagined did. “I lived in the house for three years, I filmed in it, I did sessions in it and I even had slaves out in the yard sometimes,” says Milano. “All my neighbors knew what I did for work. I was pretty much the neighborhood celebrity.”
Proud of her career, Milano says she never made any effort to hide what she did. “When society shames you for sexual acts, it’s like the pot calling the kettle black,” she says. Her neighbors seemed accepting; she describes a sense of amusement, with one of her neighbors laughing anytime she saw Milano’s “slaves” performing yardwork.
Selling the house was another story.
A chatty neighbor, excited to share Milano’s backstory with buyers, made the interested buyers very uncomfortable with the house’s history—so uncomfortable they insisted on a reduced price, demanding the countertops and carpet be replaced. “I’m open-minded and I know a lot of people aren’t, but carpet and countertops? It’s so trivial in the grand scheme,” says Milano. “People have sex in houses all the time, how is that any different than porn?”
Creators of the adult site Wifey’s World, Kevin and Sandra Otterson, ran into a similar situation, only their buyer didn’t demand new countertops—she backed out instead. According to The Arizona Republic, Linda Fein was in the process of making a $1.8 million offer on the married couple’s four-bedroom, three-bath house with a pool and mountain views, when she discovered how they made their living. Shocked by the realization that the couple had sex throughout the home (and filmed it!), Fein felt the owner’s history should’ve been disclosed, especially at that price point. “I just can’t make Thanksgiving dinner on counters where a porn star has been lounging around,” said Fein.
Being a porn star doesn’t make a person a good or bad tenant, nor should it impact the value of a home sale. There is currently no statute in Arizona—where the couple was selling their home—requiring a seller to disclose the filming of adult entertainment or where they’ve had sex in the house. Non-porn stars have sex on countertops, too. Buyer beware.
Los Angeles may be one of the few places where you can buy a home that’s had a lot of porn filmed in it and never even know it. It is, after all, perfectly legal. One of the top adult agents in the business shares how some XXX companies now work with realtors to make the most out of a house that’s in between buyers. “Some of the property management companies will rent out staged houses in the offseason,” says Mark Spiegler, founder of SpieglerGirls.com. “I don’t think the value goes down in L.A. The demand is so high, I don’t think they’d care what you did in it.”
