Interpret eviction records correctly to avoid errors in judgment

If you are a landlord or property manager who uses tenant screening as a reliable tool to weed out potentially bad tenants and find the best ones, congratulations – you’re doing yourself and your business a big favor. But if part of that tenant screening report includes an eviction record, your interpretation and actions regarding the results could open you up to discrimination claims, not to mention unfairly denying a potentially wonderful tenant the chance to live on your property. 

The use of eviction records can be very helpful, but be careful about the way you use them. So when requesting an eviction records search, keep these things in mind:

• The date of the judgment: According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, civil suits, civil judgments, and records cannot be taken into account in the rental decision if they are older than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever period is longer.
• The number of records returned:  A single offense may be due to special circumstances, while a list of offenses most likely indicates a much larger problem. If there is a single offense, ask the applicant to explain the situation, and contact the former landlord to back up their story. 
• The information contained in the record:  Any system that returns instant results has the potential for error. Verify that what you receive matches other information provided by your applicant or other areas of their tenant screening report. 

If you follow these guidelines and leave room for a frank discussion with your tenant applicant and his or her previous landlords, you could do both of you a favor and avoid an error in judgment that costs somebody a great place to live, and costs you a good tenant. 

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