The rental housing crisis continues to squeeze working families. Contributing to these struggles is the use of tenant screening reports, which typically combine information about eviction filings, criminal records, and credit history. These reports often contain significant systemic errors and problems, such as
- tagging the wrong person with a criminal or eviction record,
- reporting of incomplete or misleading records, and
- reporting of sealed or expunged records.
Landlords may not see anything but a score or a thumbs-up-or-down recommendation, and often blindly follow such recommendations despite the absence of any evidence that they are actually predictive. Tenant screening reports also create a disparate impact on Black and Latino/Hispanic renters.
This Policy Brief offers solutions as to what states can do to regulate tenant screening, including avoiding possible federal preemption and potential administrative agency action.
See all resources related to: Consumer Protections for Tenants, Credit Reporting & Data Fairness, Criminal Justice