April 14, 2015

What Questions Seem Innocent, but Landlords Cannot Ask Rental Applicants?

blue silhouette of a person thinking with question mark

When you are looking for the right tenant to fill your property, you must be careful. There are some questions you may think are normal and even innocent, but you cannot ask. Here are a few questions to avoid asking rental applications.

Do you have a Service Animal?

This may seem like an innocent question and one you may think make sense to ask, but you cannot ask about service animals. When you ask about a service animal, it falls in the same category as asking about a disability. You cannot even ask about the duties and tasks the animal will do for the applicant.

However, the good news is, applicants will have to provide documentation for service animals. You cannot ask about a service animal, but they are required to tell you about it soon enough.

How Many Children do You have?

You cannot ask about how many children a potential tenant has, which can come up in casual conversation. You have to be very careful as this goes against the Federal Fair Housing Laws. It's also not okay to ask how old the children are or when a woman is due, if she is expecting.

Do you Plan to Retire Soon?

It's not okay to ask about someone's age and that also covers asking if they plan to retire soon. The only time this is okay is with a 55+ community, which has been designated as such by the state or federal government.

What Country were you Born in?

The Federal Fair Housing Laws don't allow you to ask where the nation of origin is for a rental applicant. You cannot ask where they were born, where their parents were born, what their native language is or where their significant other or spouse was born or from.

Other questions to avoid include:

  • Do you have any arrests?
  • Are you interested in the nearby temple or church?
  • When are you planning to get married?

As a landlord, you must be aware of which questions you can and cannot ask. Keep these in mind when you are looking for new tenants.