Property Manager Van Nuys

Property Manager Screening

Landlords, realtors, property managers, property owners and apartment leasing agents should perform the following due diligence tasks before signing a lease and renting out a condo or apartment unit:
1.) Run a Credit Check to verify the applicant’s credit worthiness. To get a credit report, credit score, leasing recommendation and criminal background check for only $35 visit: www.TenantScreeningUSA.com and sign up in under a minute. What is considered acceptable credit history to one apartment’s screening criteria/policy may differ from another. It is imperative to have a consistent and fair tenant screening approach to protect yourself from fair housing lawsuits. The three major credit bureaus in the USA are TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax whose websites are as follows:
www.TransUnion.com
www.Experian.com
www.Equifax.com
2.) Run a Criminal History Check to prevent known criminals from being a threat to your apartment community. You can perform criminal background checks online at the following websites:
www.CriminalBackgroundRecords.com
www.TenantScreeningUSA.com
3.) Run an Eviction Records Search to avoid repeating the same mistake the last property that evicted this tenant made. You can perform eviction record background checks online at the following website: www.EvictionRecords.com
4.) Do an Employment Verification to ensure the applicant is employed where they said they are employed on the rental application, and that there income is as stated.
Multifamily Industry Laws and Guidelines
The apartment industry’s screening policies are governed by the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Fair Housing Laws as outlined in the FHA can be viewed online at the following URL: https://www.justice.gov/crt/housing-and-civil-enforcement-section
The Fair Credit Reporting Laws as outlined in the FCRA can be viewed online at the following URL: http://epic.org/privacy/financial/fcra.html OR you can view the PDF version at: https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/fair-credit-reporting-act
Pertaining to the Multifamily Industry, the FHA prohibits discrimination in the rental screening process based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, and familial status. In a nutshell, this means that a properties resident screening criteria cannot include any of these factors in part or whole of their decision to reject a potential applicant. If a property rejects an applicant based on the color of their skin or the fact they are a woman, that property opens itself up for a fair housing lawsuit in which the potential tenant would win and of course cost the property in question lots of money. A quick note here is that convicted criminals are not a protected class, and therefore do not fall under the shield of the FHA and fair housing laws. This means that applicant screening models can designate certain “criminal convictions” as reasons for rejecting an applicant. If they do choose to reject applicants based on criminal offense information, then they must use the same criteria/”criminal offense list” regarding what criminal offenses and/or level (i.e. felony vs. misdemeanor) of criminal offense they would deny an applicant for.

From: http://www.criminalhistorychecks.com

Carnahan Property Management Services Woodland Hills,West Hills,Bell Canyon, Hidden Hills, Calabasas, Canoga Park, Tarzana, Reseda, Topanga, Encino, Northridge, Van Nuys, North Hills,Chatsworth, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, North Hollywood, West Hollywood, San Fernando Valley, Granada Hills, Mission Hills, Simi Valley, WestLake Village, Agoura, Toluca Lake, Valley Village, Burbank. Call us at (818) 884-1500