Write Down Your Tenant Criteria

One of the best ways to stay out of trouble with Fair Housing is to have specific criteria for your selection of applicants, and then Write Them Down! Also, make sure you follow them and can prove it -- a checklist is a good idea and keep the checklist with each application. Only about 5% of landlords do this.

 

Tip: Make your standards high - you can always go back and then select the most qualified applicant if no one meets the criteria -- but the first that does meet the criteria you must rent to them.

 

By the way, you should not give these criteria to prospective tenants. It is simply an internal document for you -- just in case.