Top 6 questions to avoid in tenant screening

If you have a rental property in Los Gatos and want to do your own tenant screening, you need to recognize that Top 6 questions to avoid.   The Department of Fair Housing which is a Federal Agency requires that no tenant should be denied housing based on their sex, religion, nationality and ethnicity.

The role of Department of Fair Housing is to protect the right  of minorities, elderly and immigrants from housing discrimination.  

So, any questions regarding these topics are illegal and should not be the basis for your decision on selecting a tenant.  Some of the questions that are illegal are listed below:

1)  Do you have a disability/What is the nature or severity of the disability?

This question might appear harmless from a distance, but the applicants should not be subject to these kind of question.  Unless they volunteer that they need wheel chair access to your property, then you can discuss if your rental property has such options for them.

2) Do you have children? What are their ages?

Discrimination against tenants who have children is against the law and can not be used as a criteria for selecting your tenants.

3) Are you and your partner married?

Marital Status is no grounds for discrimination and should have no relevance on your choice of tenants.

4)  Are you an immigrant?

Fair Housing laws discourage discrimination due to National origin. Just because your applicants were born in another country, it does not give you the right to excuse them from your pool of tenant applicants.

5)  Are you straight?

Sexual orientation can not be used as grounds to eliminate tenants.  It’s illegal and should not be part of your tenant screening conversation.

6) Do you go to church?

Your tenants religious practices are private matters and are protected by law.  They should be not used as grounds to select tenants.

Some of these questions might appear harmless enough for a casual conversation but they don not belong in a tenant screening.  In fact, if you ask these questions during your screening and refuse to rent to this applicant, he/she has the right to file a complaint against you for housing discrimination.  That is why we offer tenant screening for our clients who might not be aware of the questions that are grounds for discrimination claims.

If you have a property in Silicon Valley that you want to rent, we have pre-qualified tenants ready to rent.  We can send you a free eBook on Fair Market Rents.  Click below to get yours.

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