Objectivity and Tenant Screening
Important Guidelines
It is vitally important that landlords and property managers apply objectivity when choosing tenants. The law establishes that people have the right to live where they choose. At the same time, you have the right to run your business in a way that makes sense--and makes you a profit. As a landlord, that means you can choose to rent to tenants who fall below your criteria for affording your rent, taking care of your property, and not breaking laws or your lease agreement.
But you cannot apply different criteria to different groups of people; for example, you cannot run credit checks on one group and not others. To be objective, landlords must handle each tenant applicant as though they did not know their race, gender, family situation, religion, or disability status.
Valid and objective reasons for turning down a tenant applicant include:
• Bad credit history
• Lack of solid job history
• Insufficient Income
• History of evictions
• Lack of references
Invalid, subjective reasons for turning down an applicant include:
• Don’t like the way they look
• Tattoos and/or body jewelry
• They have children
• They dress differently than I do
• Had a bad experience with another tenant from their country
• They don’t speak English
Remember, establish your requirements before you ever see a prospective tenant—or you can risk discrimination accusations. And, if you must turn down an applicant who is a minority or otherwise protected by the Fair Housing Act, document the tenant screening procedures you followed—and make sure they are the same you apply to every potential tenant!