HUD Reaffirms Commitment to Fair Housing Litigation

In April of every year the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) celebrates Fair Housing. This year HUD is focused on disparate impact, an increasingly popular term that describes a form of discrimination that is not on the face discriminatory. However, when looking at the overall tenant screening results it could show that a protected class is being disproportionally discriminated against even if the landlord implores the same tenant screening policies on everyone. Even if the landlord or property manager has no intent to discriminate against a protected class under the U.S. Civil Rights Act they could still be in violation of the law if the policy disproportionately harms that class. In addition recent moves by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Federal Trade Commission show greater scrutiny for the appropriate use of public records, especially criminal history records in the tenant screening process. Now more than ever it is a good idea for landlords and property managers to partner with a professional third party tenant screening company to help them stay compliant with an ever evolving legal atmosphere. To learn more about the impact HUD and disparate impact are having on the tenant screening industry read recent TenantScreeningUSA.com press release: http://tenantscreeningusa.com/tenant-screening-news/hud-celebration-of-fair-housing-month-focuses-attention-on-tenant-checks-and-disparate-impact/