Millions of people in the U.S. rent their home. Their landlord could be a small mom-and-pop property owner, a large property management company, a public housing agency, or some other kind of organization. Many of these landlords buy applicants’ credit reports or use tenant screening companies to assist in evaluating prospective tenants. Tenant screening companies are consumer reporting agencies that compile information about the prospective tenant into tenant screening reports (which often disclose any criminal and eviction records in the tenant’s background, along with credit report information). Some tenant screening companies also provide recommendations to landlords about whether to approve a prospective tenant’s application.
The FTC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau want to better understand how these issues are playing out across the rental housing industry. To learn more, the FTC and CFPB have put out a Request for Information to get comments from members of the public – including tenants, landlords, and tenant screening companies – about their experiences.
The Request for Information covers a wide range of issues, including:
- How landlords decide on their tenant screening criteria, and how that affects prospective tenants
- How landlords use specific kinds of background information (including eviction and housing court records and criminal records), and whether there are additional steps regulators could take to improve that process
- How landlords set application and screening fees and how those fees impact prospective renters
- How tenant screening companies’ recommendation algorithms are designed and how they play a role in whether a prospective renter qualifies for rental housing
The FTC encourages comments from tenants, prospective tenants, tenants’ rights and housing advocacy groups, property managers, landlords, tenant screening companies, and other consumer reporting agencies.
To file a comment, submit it online at www.ftc.gov/tenantscreening. Your comment will be public, so don’t include any confidential or sensitive information. File your comment by May 30, 2023.
#Tenant #screening #practices #FTC #hear