screening Massachusetts tenants

School is back and summer is over. September 1 and the start of the new rental cycle is right around the corner. It’s time to review my best practices to get trouble-free, paying tenants in your Massachusetts rental property.

Screening Prospective Massachusetts Renters: What You Can and Cannot Ask

Landlords can legally ask prospective renters about the following:

  • income and current employment
  • prior landlord references
  • credit history
  • criminal history

Your rental application should include a full release of all credit history and CORI (Criminal Offender Registry Information). Use CORI information with caution, however, and offer the tenant an opportunity to explain any issues. Landlords should also check the Sex Offender Registry as they can be held liable for renting to a known offender. Use the rental application and other forms from the Greater Boston Real Estate Board.

Landlords cannot ask about the following:

  • race, color, national origin, ancestry, or gender
  • sexual orientation
  • age
  • marital status
  • religion
  • military/veteran status
  • disability, receipt of public assistance
  • children.

If you deny a renter’s application, it should be based on financial reasons, such as questionable credit, income or rental history. Stay away from reasons related to children, public assistance and the like. Be aware that this time of year the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and Attorney General’s Office send out dummy rental applicants in an attempt to catch unwary landlords who deny housing for discriminatory reasons.

Students, especially undergraduates, often create problems for landlords. It’s important to meet with students personally before signing the lease and firmly explain a “no tolerance” policy against excessive noise, parties and misbehavior. Remember, under a two year old Boston zoning ordinance, no more than four (4) full time undergraduate students may live together in a single apartment.

Careful screening of tenants is far less expensive than the cost of evicting a problem tenant.

My Property Has Lead Paint. Can I Refuse To Rent to Tenants With Small Kids?

The answer is no, but many landlords do so (unlawfully) under the guise of financial reasons. The Attorney General has been cracking down on these practice:  Two Local Real Estate Firms Fined By Mass. Attorney General For Lead Paint Housing Discrimination.

Under the Massachusetts Lead Paint Law, whenever a child under six years of age comes to live in a rental property, the property owner has a responsibility to discover whether there is any lead paint on the property and to de-lead to protect the young children living there. A property owner or real estate agent cannot get around the legal requirements to disclose information about known lead hazards simply by refusing to rent to families with young children. They also cannot refuse to renew the lease of a pregnant woman or a family with young children just because a property may contain lead hazards. Landlords cannot refuse to rent simply because they do not want to spend the money to de-lead the property. Any of these acts is a violation of the Lead Law, the Consumer Protection Act, and various Massachusetts anti-discrimination statutes that can have serious penalties for a property owner or real estate agent.

For more information about Massachusetts rental screening, landlord-tenant law and evictions, please read these articles or contact me below. I would be happy to help you get good tenants.

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Richard D. Vetstein, Esq. is an experienced Massachusetts real estate and eviction attorney. For more information, please contact him at 508-620-5352 or [email protected].

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