Property Owners/Managers are in the business of leasing quality rental housing to quality prospective residents. All applications are processed with the goal of extending an offer to lease, to qualified applicants. Unfortunately, not all applications can be approved. U.S. Justice Department filed a “Statement of Interest” in a housing lawsuit, warning landlords who consider criminal records in evaluating prospective tenants to not use overly broad generalizations that disproportionately disqualify people. The Justice Department states in… [Read More]
FCRA Lawsuits will Remain a Potential Threat to Employers
On May 16, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in the case of Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins that consumers must prove “concrete injury” in class action lawsuits for alleged “bare” violations of a federal statute. However, the fact that class action lawsuits involving the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) that governs background checks in the U.S. will remain a potential threat to employers despite recent court rulings dismissing FCRA lawsuits and… [Read More]
Resident Individualized Assessments & Adverse Action Notifications
In view of the April 4, 2016 HUD Guidelines to Providers of Housing, POE believes it is necessary to utilize additional versions of the Adverse Action Notifications that property owners and property managers are required to send, when the owners/managers intend to decline an application placed by a prospective resident. The existing required prospective resident Adverse Action Notifications do not mention the reason for decline, do not mention anything about a criminal record, and they… [Read More]
Prospective Resident Individualized Assessment
Property Owners/Managers are in the business of leasing quality rental housing to quality prospective residents. All applications are processed with the goal of extending an offer to lease, to qualified applicants. Unfortunately, not all applications can be approved. HUD’s April 2016 Guidance to Housing Providers strongly states that no prospective resident may be automatically denied, due to the existence of a criminal record. HUD urges all Housing Providers to create and apply your written Resident… [Read More]
HUD Guidance, Applicants with Criminal Records & Housing Providers
On April 4, 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of General Counsel, issued its Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions. The Guidance, which strongly resembles the April 25, 2012 EEOC Enforcement Guidance to Employers on the Use of Criminal Records, advises that refusing to rent to people just because they have criminal convictions — and… [Read More]
Compliance…Compliance…Compliance
Litigation against End Users of Consumer Reports and Investigative Consumer Reports continues to Snowball across the land. And record setting settlements are being paid by employers and other end-users of screening reports. Two-thirds of FCRA suits are being brought against End Users because of invalid Authorization and Disclosure documents or because of End User failure to provide proper Adverse Action Notifications with required enclosures. Authorizations and Disclosures must not include “release of liability” or other… [Read More]