How To Steer Clear Of A Fair Housing Lawsuit From A Disgruntled Tenant
Here’s a reliable list of the top things every landlord needs to Remember when screening future tenants, and how to avoid discrimination lawsuits under the Fair Housing Act. When selecting your tenant, keep these in mind.
It is unlawful to discriminate. Federal and state anti-discrimination laws limit what you can say and do in the tenant rental process. You can’t reject somebody your apartment merely because of their race. If using a real estate agent to list your apartment, you can’t tell them that you will not rent out to a particular ethnic group.
Ask for Up to date Employment information, References, and substantiation of Credit Score. Landlords can easily run a credit check of forthcoming tenants on the internet for a negligible fee. Furthermore, you can and should call up the tenant’s references, in particular previous landlords. You should also verify an applicant’s work history, wages, and bank checking account information. In case the landlord tenant bond goes sour and you need to hire an eviction new york attorney, you will want the tenant’s employment information to garnish their wages so you can collect back rent.
Be consistent in your screening. Make it your policy, for example, to constantly require credit reports; don’t just get a credit report for a single mother or people of a specific ethnic group.
Make decisions based on the fact that you are running a business. You are legally free to select among future tenants as long as your decisions are based on lawful industry criteria. Don’t make decisions based on personal reasons. You are free to refuse applicants with bad credit histories, salary that you fairly regard as insufficient to pay the rent, or previous conduct — such as property destruction or regular tardy rent payments — that makes them a bad risk. It goes without saying that you can legally refuse to rent to a personwho can’t produce the security deposit, who has pets, or who fail to meet some other precondition of the rental.
Be attentive of landlord tenant laws in your neighborhood. Fair housing statutes in particular specify clearly illegal reasons to decline to rent to a tenant. The Federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, faith, national origin, gender, age, familial status, physical or psychological disability (including recovering alcoholics and people with a previous drug addiction). Numerous states and cities also forbid discrimination based on marital status or sexual orientation. In addition, a number of city laws prohibit landlords from collecting rent unless they obtain a “legal apartment”, i.e. have a town or county issued official document authorizing a two family abode or an accessory apartment house. A landlord tenant new york attorney can help enlighten you of the laws relevant in your neighborhood.
Instruct those helping you to rent so that they comprehend the rules, too. Any person who de als with future renters ought to understand fair housing laws. This includes owners, landlords, family of landlords, managers and real estate agents, and all of their employees. As the property landlord, you may be held lawfully liable for your family’s prejudiced statements or conduct, including sexual harassment.
Be consistent. Consistency is vital whendealing with prospective tenants. If you don’t handle all tenants more or less the same — for example, if you subjectively set tougher standards when renting totenants of a racial minority — you are violating federal statutes and opening yourself up to civil suits. And if you give one person a break (such as lowering thesecurity deposit for a unmarried mother but not for other people), you’ll likewise risk a charge of discrimination from other renters.
Want to learn more? There’s a lot more to finding and screeninggood quality tenants. You should get in touch with a ny tenant landlord attorney for a free consultation about the statutes relevant in your region.
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