Legal Methods For Choosing Tenants
Owning rental property can be a fun and lucrative business. The benefits of this type of investment are outstanding. However there are ways to get into trouble if you don’t understand the rules. There is a law known as The Fair Housing Act which has been established to protect the rights of tenants who apply for rental housing. These laws prohibit landlords as well as anyone on your staff from discriminating against them. They provide protection against discrimination for religion race gender nationality age family status and disability. Keep in mind the reason for this law is to provide fairness to everyone.
There are proper screening methods which help landlords when choosing a good candidate for tenancy. To be sure you are screening fairly you should use exactly the same screening process for every rental applicant. Your selection process for tenants should be based on a set of criteria that accomplishes two things. First it must allow for fairness and secondly it must protect the property owner from potentially undesirable renters. You are allowed to check credit reports and verify income. You should also ask for personal references and check with prior landlords and property managers. Do not single anyone out for screening. To be completely fair be sure to check all of this information for every applicant. When using this information for your screening process you should look at it in a purely financial and business oriented fashion. You are simply trying to discover if they are capable of paying the rent on time and if the applicant has a history of debt or has caused any property damage to another landlord.
There will be times when you may need to prove the validity of your choice for a tenant. For this reason it is important to keep the records on every applicant that you screen. There is a good method that will help protect you if an applicant dislikes your choice and claims discrimination. That is to hire a separate company to rate the applicants credit application report for tenancy. By using an unbiased third party and basing your choice strictly upon the data provided to you you eliminate your risk of being charged with discrimination. You are allowed to reject a rental application if the prospective tenant does not make sufficient income to pay the rent. You can also refuse to rent to people who have a history of evictions or non payment to any landlord in the past. The main thing to remember is to act fairly and keep all of your records. Keeping things in this prospective should help you find responsible pleasant renters and keep your business running smoothly.
About the writer: Debbie is a property investor. Her work has featured the UK Property Search Engine Wheres My Property Renovate Alerts who find property for you to renovate and Property Money Maker.
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