When you need to choose a tenant to rent your house or flat, you need to make sure they are able to pay the rent. Anti-discrimination laws make it impossible to reject a tenant based on personal prejudice. It is legally allowed to choose or reject on the basis of credit history and their previous rental history.



A credit check can be done for a small fee and calling the person\'s previous landlord and/or references is a wise idea. That\'s what they are there for, so if you don\'t avail yourself of this check, you could be missing out on important information.





If a person has a history of late rent payments, property damage, or has a low income compared to the rental cost that may make it hard for him or her to meet the rent payments, then you are within your rights to reject him or her as a tenant. These are seen as legitimate business reasons for rejection.



The best thing to do is set the same criteria for all the people you screen, not just some of them. Having one set of rules for some and another, tougher set of rules for others will leave you open to a lawsuit because you are indeed violating federal law.