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5 Fair Housing Guidelines Every Landlord Needs to Know

Dustin Edwards • Jun 04, 2021

Tips to Help You Evaluate Your Applicants Fairly

Regulations and Guidelines
When reviewing rental applications for Long Beach properties, there are a variety of fair housing guidelines to consider. Far too often landlords fail to evaluate fair to consider the rules and regulations that govern rental properties. In 2019 alone, almost 2,000 housing discrimination complaints were filed in California. Fortunately, the following tips can provide you with some insight into the policies related to fair housing. 

1. Discrimination - Per the Federal Fair Housing Act and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, you cannot discriminate against tenants based on race, color, national origin, immigration status, first language, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, familial status, source of income, and/or military status. Actions that fall under the umbrella of discrimination include refusing to rent, setting different rental agreements, falsely claiming your rental is unavailable, charging a higher rent fee, and harassing a tenet. 

2. Sexual Harassment - Under the aforementioned Federal Fair Housing Act, sexual harassment is considered a form of sex discrimination and illegal. Examples of sexual harassment in housing include quid pro quo and hostile environment.
  • Quid Pro Quo - requesting any form of sexual behavior from a rental applicant as a requirement for becoming a tenant, or evicting a tenant after they refuse to engage in any form of sexual behavior. 
  • Hostile Environment - subjecting a rental applicant to unwelcome sexual behavior that interferes with the sale, such as inappropriate touching or obscene comments. 
3. Reasonable Accommodation - Tenants with disabilities that affect their mobility, vision, and/or hearing are entitled to request reasonable accommodations to the rules, practices, and infrastructure of the rental. However, these modifications must be within reason. For example, installing handlebars in a bathroom or implementing a ramp are acceptable additions that provide equal opportunity to tenants who do not have a complete range of motion. 

4. Service Animals - You cannot institute a blanket ban against service animals or individuals with service animals, as all tenants are permitted to own service animals. To determine if a tenant’s animal is a service animal, you may only ask the following questions: 1. “Are you an individual with a disability?” and 2. “What is the disability-related task the animal has been trained to perform?” Additionally, you may not charge extra fees for tenants with service animals. 

5. Criminal History - Though California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act does not explicitly protect tenants from discrimination based on criminal history, it does limit your use of criminal history when reviewing a rental applicant. Such as, you cannot use criminal history to deliberately exclude tenants based on race or only run criminal history checks on racial minorities. Even advertising a blanket ban against tenants with criminal history goes against California law. That being said, you can check the criminal history of a potential tenant and generally deny their rental application if they were successfully convicted of a crime that poses a danger to employees, other tenants, and/or the rental itself. 

With several guidelines surrounding rental applications, it is important to understand the factors you can deny potential tenants for. The following are all legal reasons to reject rental applications.

3 Reasons You Could Reject Tenants

  1. Poor credit scores - Just remember to evaluate each tenant application by the same "poor" credit scores to show you are treating each applicant fairly.
  2. Negative references from prior landlords - Ask the same questions of each prior landlord to ensure you are taking the same approach to each applicant's application.
  3. Known history of paying rent late - Have a rule defined (i.e. 3 number of late pays in a given year) to help you evaluate each applicant by the same rules.

Understanding fair housing guidelines can be complicated but is necessary to effectively process rental applications. Finding a property management company that you feel comfortable with can ensure you follow these guidelines accordingly. If you would like assistance with fair housing guidelines, we invite you to call us today at (562) 888-0247.

Additional Fair Housing Guidelines

Should you wish to explore state and federal guidelines deeper we encourage you to visit the links below.







 

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By Dustin Edwards 01 May, 2024
Everyone wants to feel safe in their homes. As an investment property owner, it's up to you to decide whether or not to include security measures in your property. Many of the costs associated with the security measures can be included in the rent, meaning not only can you keep your property safe, but you can earn more income in the long run. However, you would still want your tenants to have renters insurance to protect their assets. Today, we’ll discuss the top five security measures you can add to your property and why they're beneficial to you and your tenant. Security Cameras Cameras are probably one of the first security measures people think about when asked about security. Cameras provide more benefits than just surveillance. They provide an extra level of security for the safety of the tenants and their belongings. Additionally, security cameras can be useful when repairs are required. Cameras can aid in supervising repairs and maintenance to ensure you’re receiving the agreed-upon work. During vacancies when the property is empty, security cameras can help keep the property safe from potential intruders. Doorbell cameras are incredibly popular now. They provide the aforementioned safety of a camera that can be accessed remotely, as well as the ability to communicate with visitors. Although one must be careful never to say you're not home, just say you're unavailable to strangers. Security Lights Security lights with motion detectors are another effective tool when adding security measures to your property. These lights brightly if a potential intruder attempts to get near your home. They can provide enough illumination to see the intruder or, at the very least, scare them off. Nowadays, you can find a combination of security cameras and motion-activated security lights, such as the floodlight cam wired plus from Ring . Additionally, because these lights only turn on when motion is detected, they’re more cost-effective than traditional lights with a switch. Illuminate the Property Light generally deters intruders as it's more difficult to hide. Adding lighting to the landscaping can increase the security of the property while creating a relaxing atmosphere. Lights can also be used in other areas of the property to accent features such as trees, benches, or artwork. This can help your property stand out while giving your tenants an additional feeling of safety. Keyless Entry Keyless entry is seen as both a convenience feature and a security feature. They usually use an electronic passcode, biometric data, or grant access through a smartphone app. Physical keys can be lost, stolen, or duplicated. You reduce the risk of unauthorized entry by eliminating the need for a physical key to enter the property. Many keyless entry systems include several features, such as remote locking and monitoring. Although keyless entry is a great new technology for keeping your tenants and properties safe, they’re best used with other security systems. Security Company Nothing beats having an extra pair of eyes on your property for security. This is where security companies like ADT and SimpliSafe come in. While companies may deal with security in varying ways, they aim to protect your investment. While safety is the primary role of a security company, remember that many tenants may be willing to pay more for a premium amenity like a home security company. Keeping your property and tenants safe is incredibly important to the longevity of an investment property. If you’re looking to improve the security of your Long Beach rental property or need help managing your beach city rental property, we invite you to call us today at (562) 888-0247 or fill out our Owner Application online .
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