Chapter 2 Tenant Screening Legal Tactics: Tenants' Rights in Massachusetts Eighth Edition, May 2017
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Chapter 2 Tenant Screening Legal Tactics: Tenants' Rights in Massachusetts Eighth Edition, May 2017 Tenant Screening - Pullout ....................................................... 23 Tenant Screening Agencies & Reports ...................................... 25 1. What Is a Tenant Screening Report 2. What Is a Credit Report 3. How to Correct Errors or Old Information on a Credit or Tenant Screening Report 4. How to Repair Bad Credit 5. Improve Your Chances of Getting Housing Rental History ......................................................................... 29 Eviction History ...................................................................... 30 Criminal Records and Your Rights ........................................... 30 1. Who Can Get Access to Criminal Records 2. What You Can Do to Protect Your Rights Employment and Income ......................................................... 33 Discrimination ......................................................................... 33 Protections for Survivors of Domestic Violence ........................ 33 1. All Housing 2. State Housing Assistance 3. Federal Housing Assistance Background Checking Fees ...................................................... 34 Chapter 2: Tenant Screening ▲ 21 22 ▲ Chapter 2: Tenant Screening Pullout 2 Tenant Screening Tenants’ Rights in Massachusetts When you are looking for an apartment it is How Landlords Screen important to understand how landlords screen tenants. They screen tenants in different ways. Credit reports Landlords want to know if tenants will: Landlords use credit reports to predict if you can and will pay the rent. Credit reports show . Pay the rent on time. how you borrow and repay money. They also . Keep an apartment in good condition. show how much debt you have. Be a good neighbor. Tenant screening reports Landlords can buy tenant screening reports from private companies. These reports can Protect Yourself include eviction history, court cases, former addresses, social security number verification, If Your Application and criminal record searches. Is Denied Criminal record information If landlords or property managers deny Landlords and property managers can get your application for an apartment: some information about your criminal record, called "Criminal Offender Record . Ask them why. Information" or CORI. You may be able to convince them that Court information they should not reject you. Massachusetts trial courts make information about court cases available to the public on . They may have information from a the Internet. tenant screening report, court record, or criminal record (CORI) which does Rental history not tell the whole story or is wrong. Landlords may ask you for references from your current and former landlords. You may need to correct wrong or misleading information in your tenant Credit Report screening report, your court record, or your CORI. Before you look for a place, get a copy of your credit report. You can get 1 free copy . You may be able to show them your once a year by filling out the Annual Credit circumstances have changed. For Report Request Form. To get this form: example, you lost your job and were unable to the rent, but now you have a . Call 877-322-8228 or job and can pay the rent. Go to www.AnnualCreditReport.com Click “Request your free credit reports” Chapter 2: Tenant Screening ▲ 23 Tenant Screening Court Information Reports Massachusetts’ trial courts make some Landlords must tell you if they deny your information about court cases available to the rental application because of the information public on the Internet. Tenant advocates have in a tenant screening report. But they do not concerns about this because this information may contain errors. It also may not tell the always tell you why they deny you. whole story. If landlords deny your rental application, ask For example, the information online will not if they used a tenant screening report. If they show that you came to an agreement with a did, ask them for the name of the company. former landlord and you followed that Contact the company and get the information agreement. that is wrong or misleading changed. If you have been involved in a housing case, Criminal Record make sure there are no errors online. Look up your case on the court's website at Information www.masscourts.org. If you find an error, use Error Correction Form (Booklet 11). A landlord cannot automatically disqualify anyone with a criminal record. Landlords need Rental History to assess each individual applicant. A landlord may want to get information from Before a landlord can deny your application your current and former landlords to find out because of your CORI, the landlord must: if you are a good tenant. Before you apply for apartments, contact former landlords and tell . Notify you that they plan to deny you them that another landlord may request a housing because of what is in the CORI. reference from them. If you are afraid that a . Give you a copy of the CORI they got or former landlord may give you a bad reference, tenant screening report if it has CORI. ask them for a simple reference letter that says you paid the rent on time. Tell you the part of your CORI or tenant screening report that is a problem. If you have no rental history, try to use other information that shows you can pay rent on . Give you information about how to fix time and take care of an apartment. For mistakes on your CORI and give you a example, get letters from clergy, shelter staff, chance to get mistakes corrected. or employers saying that you will take care of . Give you a copy of their CORI Policy, if the apartment and respect the rights of others. they are required to have one. If you applied for certain types of subsidized housing, they must give you information about how to challenge the denial of housing based on CORI. See Challenging a Denial MassLegalHelp.org/Tenant- www.MassLegalHelp.org/cori/housing/denial. Screening i Legal Tactics: Tenants Rights in Massachusetts May 2017 24 ▲ Chapter 2: Tenant Screening Chapter 2 Tenant Screening by Paul Schack Italicized words are in the Glossary Before you look for a place to live it is important “Consumer reports” are provided by “consumer to understand how landlords do tenant screening reporting agencies” to third parties, such as and what rights you have. landlords and property managers. They then use the information to make decisions including The proper purpose of tenant screening is for a whether to grant credit or residential rental landlord to determine if you will be a responsible housing. “Consumer reports” is a broad tenant who will pay the rent on time, keep an category that includes what are popularly apartment in good condition, and not disturb referred to as “credit reports.” The term also neighbors or damage property. includes tenant screening and background reports. Every landlord screens tenants differently. Because so much information is available now There are two major types of consumer on the internet some landlords may use that reporting agencies: information to reject tenants just because they were at some point involved in a court case Credit Reporting Agency regardless of the result of the case. Credit reporting agencies provide “credit This chapter gives you information to help you reports,” which consist of information on protect yourself during the tenant screening your credit and bill paying history. These process if you are searching for an apartment in include Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. the private market. Specialty Consumer Reporting If you are applying for public or subsidized or Tenant Screening Agency housing there are specific rules about tenant screening. Read Finding Public and Specialty consumer reporting agencies Subsidized Housing, Chapter 6: Tenant collect information for a specific purpose Screening. like screening tenants. These will be referred to as “tenant screening agencies.” Tenant Screening Landlords do not need your permission to Agencies & Reports obtain a tenant screening or other consumer report.1 However, if a landlord denies you There are companies, called "consumer reporting housing based on the report, she must give agencies" that supply landlords with information you a written notice telling you the name of the about tenants. These companies collect and sell tenant screening agency that provided the report information about tenants including court cases, and how to contact that agency to obtain a copy credit checks, employment verification, former of the report.2 rental addresses, and criminal record checks. Sometimes the information in these reports is If your application for an apartment is denied, very misleading. It may also be flat out wrong. ask the landlord why. You may be able to Chapter 2: Tenant Screening ▲ 25 convince the landlord that you should not be To obtain a free copy of your report, you must rejected for that reason. fill out a Consumer Disclosure Request Form. Your report should include a list of any person Also, ask the landlord whether she used a tenant who has requested a report on you. screening agency and, if so, what the name of the company is. There are many tenant screening When making a request, you may be asked to agencies and this may be your only real way of provide your name, social security number, finding out what company is distributing current and previous address, driver’s license, information about you so that you can either get and current employer. For a list of some wrong information corrected or try to change specialty consumer reporting companies and information that is misleading. See the section in their contact information click: this chapter: Your Right to Challenge the http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201604_cfp Accuracy of a Consumer Report.3 b_list-of-consumer-reporting-companies.pdf. 1. What Is a Tenant 2. What Is a Credit Report Screening Report Credit histories are one of the main items that Tenant screening reports can include landlords may look at when screening tenants. information about eviction histories, court cases There are three national credit reporting prior addresses, social security number companies: verification, bankruptcy cases, and criminal record searches.