So, the most obvious question for many landlords is, if credit reports have always worked just fine for me in evaluating rental applicants in the past, then why should I do anything different? The times they are a changin. Credit reports only ever answered an important but limited set of questions about rental applicants financial background and left other important questions to conversation and intuition.
Did they pay their rent on time? Did they damage the property? Did they honor their prior lease? These and many more questions are difficult to ask in a manner compliant with fair housing practices, but they are important indicators of whether or not you’ve found the right tenant.
The on-going housing crisis has left credit reports telling you less about rental applicants and may lead you to miss out on good rental opportunities or expose you to additional risk of fair housing non-compliance which will undoubtedly be on the rise as applicants find it more difficult to secure rental housing.
