Social media background checks more trouble than they’re worth

Most landlords use traditional methods to perform background checks on prospective tenants, but some are branching out to social media outlets to do some investigative work of their own. While it may be tempting to log on to Facebook and Twitter and try to see what you can find out about a would-be tenant’s lifestyle and personality, the social media background check tactic brings with it a host of potential legal issues if what you find becomes the reason you decline to rent the property to that person.

Fair Housing laws are very clear about the fact that it is illegal to deny housing to anyone based on race, color, national origin, religion, gender, familial status and disability. These are, by and large, well outside the realm of the typical rental application, so finding out and exhibiting some bias against a person based on what you find out through Facebook could lead to some serious legal ramifications. Another potential problem is that sometimes the wrong person’s profile is mistaken for the applicant in question. There are many, many duplicate names out there, and it can be difficult to ascertain whether you’ve got the right John Doe’s Facebook page.

The better idea is to stick with a professional tenant screening service, a company with a proven reputation for being thorough and following the letter of every law. Paying someone for fact-checked reports on an applicant’s credit, criminal record and employment is a far better use of your time than surfing the internet and potentially finding something that’s either false or could get you in trouble.  

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Service animals are an important exception to the “No pets” rule

Any intelligent landlord who’s been around the tenant block a few times understands the importance of treading lightly when it comes to allowing any and all pets to live in one’s rental property. It’s not discriminatory to prohibit pets of a certain kind – or all kinds – from living on your property, as “cat owners” or “dog owners” are not a protected class. There is, however, one very important exception to this rule, and that is the service animal.

Service animals and their owners are protected by the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing providers from discriminating against applicants or tenants because of a disability. The law requires owners and landlords to make reasonable accommodations to allow those with disabilities equal opportunity to live there. This includes adjusting rules or policies, such as allowing dogs on the premises, or increasing the usual weight limit for a pet for a person who requires the assistance of an animal for a disability-related need.

Having said that, it’s important to note that a tenant with a service animal doesn’t get a free pass, exempt from all of the rules other tenants must follow. For example, they must keep their animal under control at all times and the animal must not become a nuisance or a threat to other tenants or neighbors.

The best way to handle such a situation is to keep lines of communication open with the tenant, and to review the law to make sure you are and remain in compliance.

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