Background and credit Checks
Do you guys run a credit and background check on every applicant? I have several rental properties, and I am inclined to not run background or credit checks on students that are in professional graduate school (medical,dental, PA, optometry, etc) because I know the requirements of the school will not permit students with a criminal history, and they are funded by loans or parents and don't have much credit history anyway. I could not request the report from the school, because it is typically not available to the student from what I understand.
I just wanted to see if it was illegal to have employed applicants do a credit/background check and not require that from certain students.
It's not that these people are applying at the same time for the same house, but I just wonder over time if I am opening myself to scrutiny if all of my files get looked at if there were ever an issue, and I don't have background checks on some but I have them for others. Let me know what you think.
Thanks!
@Lee M. you definitely don't need to run a background check on every applicant. Most people will have people fill out an application and then for just the applicants that pass the criteria a background check is requested. No sense in making someone that is not even close to qualifying pay to run a background check.
@Rick S. Thanks, but over the years, what if you have many applicants that meet your criteria and live in your homes, and there are some who you have done credit and background checks on, and some who you never did a background check, but you let live in the house?
Is there a legal issue with picking and choosing when to do the credit check?
@Lee M. I will let others comment also, however from what I understand as long as you use the same criteria for everyone you shouldn't have an issue in regards to the background check not being processed for some people. I don't know of any laws that require a background check being processed for everyone.
I would suggest at least a background check to cover your own butt. Credit check-- your call, if it's students I'd probably just require a parent co-signer. We require all of our tenants pay for one ($25) with their application. For the peace of mind, and setting your standard-- I definitely go with a background check.
I guess I was just concerned that if my standards require favorable credit history, is it ok to not check this on everyone whose application I approve?
@Lee M. You open yourself up for problems if you don't run the credit / background check for all applicants. What happens if you allow someone to rent without running a credit / background check, then refuse another person after running the credit / background check on them? What if the person you refused is a member of a protected class and they claim that you discriminated against them by requiring the background check on them but not someone else. I think you would have a hard time defending against that charge of discrimination. Yes, it makes sense the way you describe it, but are you sure it would make sense to a jury?