Purchasing rental single-family homes can be a thrilling and fulfilling endeavor. Nevertheless, it’s not as easy as it sounds to become a landlord, and there are a lot of things you should know before renting out your property.
Having a basic understanding of leasing strategies and the laws that affect both you and your tenants is crucial for first-time rental property owners. In order to assist you in leasing your initial property, we have compiled an all-encompassing guide that addresses the fundamentals. You can ensure a positive first experience as a landlord by adhering to these straightforward principles.
Mastering Renter Screening
It’s crucial to acquire all the information you need about potential tenants in order to make sure you choose the right ones for your rental property. A rental application that requests the names and birth dates of all intended occupants, including minors, is one way to accomplish this. It is also essential to request a recent employment history and a minimum of three rental references from the past.
In addition, gathering the Social Security numbers of all adult tenants and conducting background checks on them can yield important information about their financial and personal histories. You can find a qualified tenant for your rental property by following these steps and making an informed decision.
Before renting out your property to a potential tenant, double-check the information they have provided. You can accomplish this by getting information about their rental history by getting in touch with their prior landlords. Despite the potential time investment, making sure you do your homework before signing the lease will help you stay out of trouble later on.
Ensuring Non-Discriminatory Practices
Avoid any form of discrimination, whether intentional or not, is essential when advertising for and screening potential tenants. Prejudice against renters on the grounds of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, handicap, or familial status is specifically illegal under a number of federal laws currently in effect. You have to be aware of these laws and follow them all the time.
– Fair Housing Act (FHA): Makes sure that no one is subjected to housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status, or disability. The FHA is applicable to every stage of the rental procedure, encompassing advertising, tenant selection, and tenancy terms and conditions.
– Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Remember that there is a law against discrimination against individuals with disabilities enforced by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). It is your responsibility as a landlord to provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities if you own a building with four or more units. Installing grab bars in restrooms or offering accessible parking spaces are two examples of this.
– Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA): A federal statute that guards against employment discrimination against people 40 years of age or older. Discrimination in housing on the grounds of age is also forbidden by the ADEA.
– Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): In credit transactions, including rental transactions, this federal law guarantees that no person is subjected to discrimination. Landlords are forbidden by the ECOA from treating people unfairly on the basis of their race, color, national origin, religion, sex, marital status, age, or because they are recipients of public assistance.
Studying state and local laws is crucial in addition to federal law. There may be more protected classes in line with local laws.
It is imperative that rental advertisements refrain from using discriminatory language. This includes prohibiting seniors, families with children, and individuals receiving government assistance from renting your property. It’s critical to fairly evaluate applicants during the screening process using the data they submitted in their application. You can make sure you’re not taking advantage of prospective tenants by remaining professional and utilizing an impartial screening process.
Legal Obligations
It is imperative to refrain from presuming that an individual with a disability is inherently unsuitable to be a tenant of your property. Property owners are required to provide their tenants with “reasonable accommodations” under the Federal Fair Housing Act. Reasonable accommodation is “a change, exception, or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service that may be necessary for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.” If the potential tenant satisfies the requirements to rent your property, you shouldn’t turn them down because of their accommodations. In exchange for returning the property to its original state when they vacate, the renter will cover the cost of installing and paying for the requested accommodations.
Even if you have a strict policy against pets, you may still need to make accommodations for service and emotional support animals in your rental property. A rental pet policy does not apply to service or emotional support animals, and you are not allowed to charge extra for a tenant who chooses to keep a service animal on the premises. These points are crucial to know.
It can be difficult to stay on top of all the laws and best practices related to renting out properties. Why not entrust this duty to a Guilderland property manager? Our goal at Real Property Management Teague is to assist our rental property owners in finding the best tenants for their properties through transparent, non-discriminatory screening and leasing processes. Contact us online today or at 518-612-4900 to learn more.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
