Should I rent to a registered sdx offender?

[Francis V.]

My property manager has informed me that one of the potential tenant is a registered sex offender. The property is a SFR. Need some advice.

[Cara Lonsdale]

This is a business.  Don't apply arbitrary rules to your process.  That is when someone will come along and sue you for selectively enforcing your policies.

If your application asks whether or not an applicant has a conviction, and your policy is that you do not take convicts, then your answer is NO.  Period.

If your policy is that you take anyone and everyone as long as they have the money, then your answer is YES.

If your policy is to go case by case, then you are opening yourself up to a lawsuit down the road when some protected class decides to sue you because they blame your inconsistancy on a discrimination of their protected class.  And YES, there are these people out there, litigious people who look for opportunities to exploit their protected class for financial gain.

For the record (and to avoid some of the BP posters who love to argue a cause, no matter how irrelevant to the topic at hand), I am not taking a position one way or another.  Whether you accept convicts, or not, is up to YOU.  However, the point of my post is to tell you that you have to have a policy in place (whatever it is) and follow it EVERY TIME.  Consistancy is the only way to ensure that you don't leave yourself open to litigation.

Best of luck!