September 11th, 2023 at 12:34 pm
A. Yes.
B. Yes, because the landlord cannot refuse to rent based on race, color, sex, and other fair housing categories.
C. No.
D. No, unless the reason is the applicant’s credit.
Answer: Answers A and B are wrong. It’s true that a landlord cannot violate any fair housing laws. More information is available from C.A.R.’s Fair Housing and Discrimination Advisory (Form FHDA). However, a landlord is generally not required to state the reason for denying an applicant, except for credit.
Answer C is also wrong, and Answer D is the correct answer. If a landlord declines to rent to an applicant based solely or partly on information contained in the applicant’s consumer credit report, the landlord must provide the applicant with a written notice of that adverse action. The landlord can usually obtain a standard-form adverse action notice from the company that ran the consumer credit report.
Practice Tip: When you are the listing agent for a lease, make sure you give the landlord our BHHSCP Landlord Advisory, which informs the landlord that it’s up to the landlord, not us, to prescreen rental applicants. Do not get personally involved in the prescreening process. However, if the landlord needs more information about adverse action notices, you can download C.A.R.’s Q&A on the topic to give to the landlord (and get the landlord’s written acknowledgment of receipt). The Q&A is called Requirements When Using Consumer Reports or Credit Scores to Screen Tenants, and it is password-protected for C.A.R. members only.
-Thank You to Steve Shanks (Encino Office) for suggesting this week’s legal tip!
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