Blair Hart is one of the nations leading experts in residential property management. She has led AMMRE, Inc,.one of the most established and largest residential property management firms in the Albuquerque Metro Area for over fifteen years.
Recent blog posts
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- New Tenant Screening Requirements take effect July 21, 2011
- Who said congress never accomplishes anything?
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- 2010 Tax tips
- Attention Landlords! The IRS Has Something New, Just For You
- How Important Is A Credit Score When Looking For A Rental Home?
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New Tenant Screening Requirements take effect July 21, 2011
This is a need to know, if you use a credit report when screening applicants for rental housing.
Currently the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that an adverse action notice only include notice of the applicant’s right to receive a free copy of his or her consumer report. The new federal Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 requires users of consumer reports, beginning on July 21, 2011, to also provide credit scores to applicants if the score was used in taking adverse action. This includes tenant screening that use consumer reports as part of the acceptance process. This includes application denial or additional conditions imposed based on information in consumer reports such as credit reports.
For landlords, compliance entails that adverse action notices are provided to rental applicants who, after the tenant screening process, are denied or conditionally accepted (i.e., subject to a cosigner, last months rent or higher deposit) based on information in a consumer report. Currently the notice must include:
- The name, address, and telephone number of the agency that supplied the consumer report, including a toll-free number if the agency maintains files nationwide.
- A statement that the agency that provided the report did not make the decision to take the adverse action and cannot give the specific reasons for it.
- A notice of the individual’s right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of any information furnished by the agency and of the individual’s right to request a free copy of their credit report from the reporting agency within 60 days of the notice of adverse action.
On March 1, 2011, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued proposed regulations that contain sample notices to comply with this requirement. Copies of these notices for landlords are available from most state Apartment Associations and from the offices of Professional Residential Property Managers. The forms will be Notice of Denial, Notice of Conditional Acceptance, and include detailed instructions to help landlords who use consumer reports in their application process to comply with the new requirements.
