Tenant Acceptance Algorithm

[Sunny Burns]

Since we are owner-occupied we have a lot more leeway in being selective with our tenants; but just for fun and kind of to standardize what we felt made a good tenant we created this algorithm. Do you think this would fly as a legal way to accept or deny one tenant over another?

Most Eligible Tenant =[Monthly Income]+(3[Credit Score])+(250[# of Years at Job])

+(1000[Fluent English]+[Education Level]+[Profession]-(1000[# of Time Moved in Last 3 Yrs])

-(500[# of Cars]-(1500[# of Tenants outside Immediate Family])

[Jeff Rabinowitz]

Consult with a local lawyer familiar with fair housing regulations and enforcement in your area. Several of the criteria you cite could be viewed as discriminatory by HUD investigators (i.e. criminal history, education level, profession, language) if they tend to lead you to reject qualified applicants who are members of protected classes at a higher rate than applicants who are not members of protected classes.