Chapter 2: Tenant Screening
Before you look for a place to live it is important to understand how landlords do tenant screening and what rights you have.
The proper purpose of tenant screening is for a landlord to determine if you will be a responsible tenant who will pay the rent on time, keep an apartment in good condition, and not disturb neighbors or damage property.
Every landlord screens tenants differently. Because so much information is available now on the internet some landlords may use that information to reject tenants just because they were at some point involved in a court case regardless of the result of the case.
This chapter gives you information to help you protect yourself during the tenant screening process if you are searching for an apartment in the private market.
If you are applying for public or subsidized housing there are specific rules about tenant screening. You can learn more about public & subsidized housing here.
Go to the table of contents, or download this chapter as a PDF below.