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Credit Rejected Tenant

Have you rejected a tenant due to his/her credit since July 21, 2011?  Even if you have notbut will be running a prospective tenants credit in the future you should become quite familiar with the most recent change within the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The change details exactly what property managers and landlords have to disclose regarding credit to their applicants. Previously the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) required landlords to provide applicants with a notice of any adverse action (or an Adverse Action Notice) based on the information obtained from the applicants consumer report. The amendment now goes a step further requiring all property managers and landlords to disclose the applicants credit score when the adverse action is in who or in part of the applicants credit score.

How to comply?

  • Disclose the numerical credit score used in making the credit decision.
  • Disclose the range of possible credit scores under the model used.
  • Disclose the top four key factors that adversely affected the applicants credit score.
  • Disclose the date on which the credit score was created.
  • Disclose the name of the person or entity that provided the credit score.
 
The definition of Adverse Action in the eyes of the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies when any action taken that is unfavorable to the application.  Examples include denying an applicant based on credit or requiring a higher security deposit.  If you do not utilize the applicants credit score as a determining factor to base your approval decision, you will not be subject to the credit score disclosure requirement.  However, you do still need to provide an Adverse Action Notice.