Landlord Question and Answer Forum

We are close to accepting the application of the first family that applied to rent our home. Are we legally required to send application denials to the applicants we did not select? If so, what explanation do we give to avoid any legal issues? We did not run background checks on any of the applicants. We only checked with employers and references for some but not all of the applicants. The first family that applied is who we're going with. Any advise here would be much appreciated. Thank you!

You could start out by thanking her for checking our your property. Continue by explaining that there were many applicants ahead of her that were qulaified also. Kepp it short, sweet, and friendly. Also, keep in mind you do not want to go against Fair Housing law.

Posted by Clark F, OK on Thursday, January 5, 2012

Depending on the situation, you should refund any application fees your accepted for any applicants AFTER the first applicant. You should be processing applications one at a time and accepting or denying them. Sometimes, the first applicant needs to provide more information, such as an incomplete application, therefore, you move onto the next person. So keeping application fees for the 2nd and 3rd application would be okay. However, you should not be processing multiple applications and selecting the "best" one because you could be sued for discrimination of a protected class even though you did not discriminate based on a protected class.

Posted by Andrew R, UT on Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Depending on the situation, you should refund any application fees your accepted for any applicants AFTER the first applicant. You should be processing applications one at a time and accepting or denying them. Sometimes, the first applicant needs to provide more information, such as an incomplete application, therefore, you move onto the next person. So keeping application fees for the 2nd and 3rd application would be okay. However, you should not be processing multiple applications and selecting the "best" one because you could be sued for discrimination of a protected class even though you did not discriminate based on a protected class.

Posted by Andrew R, UT on Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Jason – Just tell others that you check everyone in order that application was received and that the 1st application qualified. You don’t need to say any thing more. Less is better. However, as Francine mentioned, thank them. One more thing. Unless you have a good reason for not checking their credit, you may be asking for trouble. Since applicants usually pay for the credit check, I find it interesting that you fail to do so.

Posted by Bob R, CA on Tuesday, May 1, 2012

looking for a general denial letter to send to applicants

Posted by al j, GA on Sunday, November 18, 2012