Is It Legal to Run a Background Check and Use It Against the Possible Tenant

My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Virginia.

My sister and her husband are trying to find a new place to move. Their previous living enviroment was hostile and very unpleasant. Mostly due to the management and other tenants(drug selling, fights, cussing, verbal threats, they even vandalized my truck to get at my sister and her husband.) The police say they can not do anything, but, -THAT- is not what I am asking about.

They got a call from a possible landlord. And he claimed he was in touch with their previous landlord, asking her lots of personal questions like, who they are associated with, how often they go to church. He was asking about speeding tickets(over 2 years old) and other personal questions. On the upside, the old landlord refused to share any of that information. But, my question is, can the 'possible' landlord be asking those kind of questions, is it legal, or any of his business to be?

Nothing you said indicates he has done anything wrong. It appears he wants to get quality tenants.

If the new landlord asks questions that implicate a civil rights issue (race, gender, age, family status, religion, etc.) and does not rent to the prospective tenant, the prospective tenant can explore the possibility of a civil rights claim.

That didn't really help.

Then have your sister sign up here and give us the relevant details. We don't know exactly what was asked, and you've not made it clear whether she has been denied an apartment based on her answers.

Don't need to be snippy about it. I told you exactly what was asked, he questioned about the people she associates with, how often she goes to church, and othersuch. She answered any, and all questions because she was afraid if she DIDN'T answer them, she'd be homeless, since they were told they had 24 hours to leave their apartment complex. They were told that, because they kept calling the police on drug dealers, and the management was tired of the police being called.

She got the trailer, but I am not sure if her rights were violated. How often someone goes to church, or if they go at all, should have no bearing on renting a place to live.

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Quoting DemonDragon

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Don't need to be snippy about it. I told you exactly what was asked, he questioned about the people she associates with, how often she goes to church, and othersuch. She answered any, and all questions because she was afraid if she DIDN'T answer them, she'd be homeless, since they were told they had 24 hours to leave their apartment complex. They were told that, because they kept calling the police on drug dealers, and the management was tired of the police being called.

She got the trailer, but I am not sure if her rights were violated. How often someone goes to church, or if they go at all, should have no bearing on renting a place to live.

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I'm a 30 year LL, and I know many other "small" LL's.

I emphasize the word "small" because at one time, as a "liberal", I figured how people conduct their business is none of my business. In the beginning, I go on credit reports, salaries, how long they've been on the job etc. This is in comparison to "big" complexes that rarely asks or care about these issues, thus you have your hostile environment.

BIG mistake.

I since found out that people with excellent credit, high salaries, long time on the job can also be people that stay up till 3 AM playing loud music, do drugs, fight, cuss, and generally create an EXTREMELY HOSTILE environment for others. On the other hand, I found people who go to church, keep a Bible on the dinner table (several of my tenants do that) are really easy going, do no drugs, and helpful to their neighbors.

Now, I can't tell from an application, and credit reports anything about the "non financial" aspects of a tenant without asking some personal questions, because they don't show up on the credit report.

Bottomline is, I have since been able to pick out tenants that do not create hostile environments. In fact, once I selected a divorced dad, with a bankruptcy report on his record, the lowest paid person compared to all my other applicants. I chose him because he spoke very respectfully, asked about churches in the area and mentioned the church is central to his life. In 30 years of landlording, I consider him one of my best tenants, and none of this "wonderfulness" showed up on his credit report, nor any of the other LEGAL documentation I'm allowed to ask for.

Later on, he told me his bankruptcy was caused by him guarantying a loan for his son's business, a rather large loan, the business went bankrupt, and he had no way of paying a $300,000 loan on a doorman's salary at the time of $350 a week. In fact, it troubled me orignally how someone with his demeanor could have been so irresponsible, but it turned out he did it for family.

To me, if a LL asked about church going habits of his tenants, cared enough to think about this aspect, would not have tenants that creates a hostile environment, provided he respects your privacy after you moved in. If you want to know why this LL is asking, this is the reason why, but you can always choose not to rent there if you feel he is too nosy.

This is something you're looking for, a serene place, right??

I see asking about church going habits as a violation of privacy. Just because you believe in some mythological being, doesn't make you a good person, or a good tenant. Some of the most stuck up, rude, and abusive people I have ever met in my life, go to church regularly.

I've never been in trouble for drugs, unpaid bills, or anything of the sort. I also have never 'willingly' stepped foot inside of a church.

What I am more interested in. Is the legal rammifications. The man already took $525 for first months rent and security deposit. The trailer is not even fully repaired. Outlets do not work. The Bathtub was 'glued' back together, rather then properly repaired. Took them a week to fix the kitchen sink, NOTHING was cleaned. How 'Christian' is that? We cleaned his trailer, We've been doing the repairs, and no one in my family goes to church. Goes to show, that you can pretend all you want, but being a horrible person, is a horrible person, religious beliefs, or not.

If your sister is denied the ability to rent the space, and they can show that the denial was based upon some unlawful discrimination, they can consult an attorney, pay the money to the attorney, and try to sue. Or, they can complain to whatever state agency in VA oversees housing discrimination. But, the denial would have to be for some unlawful reason. The landlord likely does not have to state why they refused.

If the refusal violates some aspect of the federal Fair Housing Act, or your state's fair housing laws, then they might have a case against the prospective landlords.

Your hostility to religion aside, a landlord of certain types of structures might have the right to determine whether or not a tenant will be conducive to the living situation. The laws are likely different for large apartment complexes than they are for renting a room or part of a house shared by the landlord, and thus the flexibility the landlord has in screening prospective tenants might be greater for a single unit facility or a small number of units. I am not going to review all of VA's laws on the matter, but your sister can.

If your sister and her hubby don't like the questions, they can take their business elsewhere.

Here are some links so they can begin to do some of the research for themselves:

http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/Homeles...t_Handbook.pdf

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp...13000020000000

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Quoting DemonDragon

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I see asking about church going habits as a violation of privacy .

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As LL, when I go on to ask personal questions, they are "extra point" questions, like extra points that you get on a test.

In the example of the tenant that had a bankruptcy on his credit report, plus the low paying job, ordinarily, I would not rent to him. But answering the "extra points questions" puts him in the category of a nice guy. Unfortunately, I run across people who resents any questions being asked, the attitude being, I'm giving you a copy of my "W2", so what more do you want, comes across as real hostile, so in my mind, points get taken off.

BTW, when I consider the extra points, NO WAY can anyone say I discriminated. When I asked some personal questions of the gentlemen with the bankruptcy and low paying job, these two factors alone would absolutely rule him out. I'm trying to find reasons to rent to him. So if his attitude in addition comes across as hostile, then there is no reason for me to rent to someone who is bankrupt, low paid, and hostile.

Also, I have turned down tenants just for being evasive and hostile, setting aside the credit score and wage qualifications. Some of these actually come in acting like they own the place, and when they were turned down, threatened to sue in some cases.

Bottomline, if you don't like the questions, don't answer it, and rent somewhere else. And I don't see civil rights laws preventing LL's from finding reasons to "rent to" someone where on paper, LEGALLY, he does not qualify, and when no one in his right mind would ever rent to him.