A credit check is often required by landlords before they will approve a prospective renter, and many future tenants are wary of the process and frequently question what rights landlords have when it comes to investigating applicants. While any individual or company is legally allowed to request a credit check, customers must know in advance and express their permission for them to actually perform the check.

Can I Refuse a Credit Check?

Landlords are not under any obligation to alter their application process, but it does in fact need to be uniform and must consist of the same steps for every applicant. If a landlord is going to request permission to do a credit check on one individual, the same must be done on everyone else as well. A landlord is not required to entertain the application of any individual who refuses to participate in the process that has been mandated.

Isn't Using a Credit Check Discrimination?

Most tenants are well aware of the fact that landlords are not allowed to discriminate against individuals with certain characteristics. However, most of the regulations pertain to discriminating against particular ethnicities and religions. A landlord is well within their rights to credit check their tenants and guidelines are often set to judge all applicants on the same criteria so as not to display preference.

Why is a Landlord Interested in Using a Credit Check?

Being a landlord can be very difficult at times and problem tenants can end up costing thousands of dollars. While it is obviously impossible to completely avoid all potential hazards of renting to a person, there are many steps that most landlords take to take measures to protect themselves. A credit check is a very common requirement and many landlords have made them mandatory.

What Will a Credit Check Reveal?

The results of a credit check are obviously going to be different for every single individual, but there are certain things that a landlord is interested in seeing. While applicants that have previously rented will not have a pay history reflected in a credit check, some individuals have had a mortgage in the past. Landlords are very interested in seeing the general overall payment history made on all accounts reported and would like to see a trend that suggests they may receive rent on time every month. Most landlords will pay particular attention to any severe delinquencies, foreclosures, or charge-offs.

Landlords are completely within their rights when they mandate a credit check, and tenants should always be as truthful as possible in the application process to avoid any potential negative surprises.