How To Avoid A Fair Housing Proceeding From A Disgruntled Tenant
July 30th, 2010
Here’s a solid list of the top tips every landlord needs to keep in mind when interviewing probable tenants, and how to avoid discrimination lawsuits under the Fair Housing Act. When selecting your tenant, keep these in mind.
It is against the law to discriminate. Federal and state anti-discrimination laws control what you can say and do in the tenant rental process. You cannot refuse someone your apartment house merely because of their race. If using a real estate agent to list your rental, you can’t tell them that you will not lease to a particular race.
Ask for Recent Employment information, References, and substantiation of Credit Score. Landlords can easily run a credit check of likely tenants on the internet for a deminimis fee. Furthermore, you can and should call up the tenant’s references, in particular ex- landlords. You should also verify an applicant’s work history, earnings, and bank account information. In case the landlord tenant relationship goes sour and you need to hire an eviction new york lawyer, you will want the tenant’s employment information to garnish their salary so you can collect back rent.
Be consistent in your screening. Make it your rule, for example, to always require credit reports; don’t just get a credit report for a single father or persons of a particular nationality.
Make decisions based on the fact that you are running a business. You are legally free to select among potential tenants as long as your choices are based on legitimate business criteria. Don’t make choices based on personal reasons. You are allowed to decline applicants with faulty credit histories, take-home pay that you plausibly view as insufficient to pay the rent, or previous actions — such as property destruction or regular late rent payments — that makes someone a bad risk. It goes without saying that you can legally decline to rent to someonewho can’t produce the security deposit, who has animals, or who neglect to meet some other requirement of the tenancy.
Be aware of landlord tenant statutes in your neighborhood. Fair housing statutes in particular identify clearly illegitimate reasons to decline to rent to a tenant. The Federal Fair Housing Act prohibits prejudice on the basis of ethnic group, religion, national origin, gender, age, familial status, physical or mental disability (including recovering alcoholics and people with a past drug habit). Many states and cities also ban discrimination based on marital status or sexual orientation. In addition, a number of municipality laws prohibit landlords from collecting rent until they obtain a “legal apartment”, i.e. have a town or county issued record authorizing a two family apartment or an accessory apartment house. A landlord tenant new york lawyer can help enlighten you of the laws applicable in your region.
Train those assisting you to rent so that they comprehend the rules, too. Everybody who de als with forthcoming renters must abide by fair housing laws. This includes owners, landlords, relatives of landlords, managers and real estate agents, and all of their workers. As the home landlord, you could be held lawfully accountable for your family’s prejudiced statements or conduct, including sexual harassment.
Be consistent. Consistency is critical whendealing with soon-to-be tenants. If you don’t act toward all tenants more or less the same — for instance, if you randomly set different standards when renting tomembers of a racial minority — you are violating federal statutes and opening yourself up to civil suits. And if you offer one person a break (such as lowering therental deposit for a unmarried mother but not for other people), you’ll also risk an allegation of discrimination from other renters.
Desire to find out more? There’s a lot more to discovering and selectingexcellent tenants. You should speak to a ny tenant landlord lawyer for a complimentary discussion about the laws relevant in your region.