Screening Tenants

[Jimmy NA]

Can a landlord ask a prospective tenant the follow question without violating a Fair Housing law.
"How many people do you have in your group?"
And can a landlord deny tenancy if he/she thinks there are too many people in the potential tenants "group" (ie family, or what ever you want to cal it.)
For example, you have a small 5 room apt. and a "family" of 5 or 6 or 7 people want to rent?

[Richard F.]

Perhaps slightly better wording would be "How many people will be occupying the home?", However, even better is to conspicuously post your "Occupancy Standard", and reference it within your rental agreement and/or house rules. You must establish this beforehand to effectively rebut a discrimination claim. Also, it must be "reasonable" based upon local housing codes. Typically you are "safe" at two people per legal bedroom. Of course, you can allow MORE, if you can stand the wear and tear...