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Screening the Tenant and Fair Housing Screening your applicants is necessary to insure that you get qualified, responsible tenants who pay their rent on time, however, you must screen in a manner that complies with fair housing laws. Have a Tenant screening Policy: It is advisable to have a clear, written tenant screening policy and if you make sure that all employees involved in the rental process are aware of and follow the policy consistently. Consistency is the key to good Fair Housing Policy. If you apply your rules equally across the board and they are designed to treat all protected classes equally, then you will be able to defend yourself against Discrimination complaints. Key words are consistency, fairness and objectivity. Time/Date Stamp: It may be helpful to screen your applicants on a first-come, first-served basis, then when you reach qualified applicants who meet your screening criteria you may offer the unit to the first applicant that qualifies. It's a good idea to date and time stamp the applications; then you know the exact order in which you received them. Less than Perfect Applicants: It is safer to rely on your screening process, not your assumptions, to determine if the applicants would make good tenants. Never tell any prospect that an available unit is not available. Take the application and use your objective screening process. English Proficiency: You cannot turn away an applicant because the applicant speaks poor English or has a heavy accent. Make every reasonable effort to bring applicants through the same rental procedures in English, just as you would for fluent English-speaking applicants. Translated documents are not required, nor is it necessary for the Owner or Manager to speak a variety of languages. It is your effort to bring all applicants through the same objective rental process with consistency that is key. Citizenship: Fair housing laws require that if you ask an applicant if they have citizenship or a green card etc. then every applicant must be required to show proof of legal residency. Rental Specials: Be careful here, this area can make you vulnerable to accusations of discrimination if a prospect notes differences that maybe related to a protected class. To help avoid that impression it may be helpful to put all rental quotes in writing and offer these rates to all applicants. It is not advisable to offer special rates to some applicants but not others. Again, consistency, objectivity and fairness are key. No Pets Policy: A building with a "no pets" policy must allow a visually impaired tenant to keep a guide dog. Criminal Records: Housing providers may reject an applicant who has a criminal record. Convictions should not be confused with arrests, however. If you conduct criminal background checks, it would be considered discriminatory to do such checks only on certain applicants. Income/Employment Requirements: Housing providers can have income and employment requirements as long as they apply them consistently and without regard to an applicant's protected class. Records: Save all applications and notes that determined decisions in case you need to defend yourself in a fair housing complaint. Investigators will want to see them.
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