An interesting, soon to be published Wisconsin case on denial of a rental applicant. This probably has little impact except for Section 8 applicants, but it could also be a basis for Fair housing questions too.
The Housing Authority denied an application because the prospective tenant had been found guilty in a default judgment on municipal citations for disorderly conduct, and assault and battery
Saturday I had just locked up the office and heading home as I saw a U- Haul truck pull up. Thinking perhaps they were a move in that arrived late I asked if I could help them.
In an earlier post we spoke of fair housing laws. So what are the protected classes?
All states and many municipalities have their own protected classes in addition to the federal protections. These protections are:
Wisconsin CCAP (The WI Circuit Court Automation Program), which is under attack by some legislators, provides free access to WI evictions, criminal and civil court cases. This is invaluable in checking out prospective tenants, thereby avoiding nonpaying and disruptive tenants.
What resources are available for similar screening searches outside of WI? I have attached the list of the ones we have identified. Our list currently has resources for about half the states, but not all counties in all of those states. Some are free as is WI, others we have found so far are fee based.
So let’s “crowdsource” a more complete list. The results will be shared here for all of us to use when screening out of state tenants. If you have found other or better resources please post them to the comments on this page. I will update this list and repost it as additional resources are identified.
Continue reading to see the list we already have assembled . Clicking on a state’s name will take you to that point on the list.
There as been a lot of discussion on and off the ApartmentAssoc@YahooGroups.com regarding screening criteria, whether it is necessary to have a written criteria and should you provide that criteria to prospective tenants.
Fair housing is a complex set of laws. Even if you absolutely follow the rules and their intentions you can find yourself “defending your life” so to speak. Better the records and documentation, the better you will be able to ward off false allegations.
Here is our personal experience with HUD Fair Housing:
Attorney Tristan Pettit over at Landlord Tenant Law Blog has opened a discussion on the need for a written screening criteria.
I wholeheartedly agree that this is import on a number of levels. First, if you have a well written criteria and follow it with all applicants you will protect yourself from Fair Housing claims. Secondly, if you have a well written criteria you are less likely to bend your rules and end up with a tenant that won’t work out.
Remember that every owner needs to develop their own criteria to meet their own needs. A copy of ours is attached below.
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