them for the rental, claiming they were discriminated against due to their protected class. The success of these lawsuits often comes down to whether the landlord or property manager can prove they treat all rental applicants equally regardless of their protected class. Although your intention may be to treat everyone the same, proving it can be a challenge. A good way to show you are complying with the Fair Housing Act is to set and share written criteria for your rental with all applicants. Then, if you decline an applicant you can point to a specific reason and show you have applied the same criteria to all your renters. You may want to consider sharing the criteria on the rental listing and during the first interaction with the interested applicant. Including the criteria early on can prevent you and the applicant from wasting time. What Criteria to Consider The criteria you choose to consider depends on what you think will help you determine whether the
ALTHOUGH YOUR I NTENTI ON MAY BE TO TREAT EVERYONE THE SAME , PROVI NG
IT CAN BE A CHALLENGE .
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