legal trouble. For example, don’t advertise “this house would be great for single people.” Some people could complain, claiming you’re discriminating against couples and families, who wouldn’t feel accepted or welcomed in your home. This is definitely something you want to avoid.
Minimum Qualification Standards
The best way to avoid any issues with Fair Housing laws is to set your minimum qualification standards and follow them for every single tenant. We’ll be discussing these in greater detail in Chapter 3. One thing to mention now is that you should check with your attorney on the legality of your standards. You need to ensure you’re following the law at all times during this process regarding acceptance and refusal of tenants. If you don’t understand the process, you can easily step into a legal minefield and get yourself into a heap of trouble. I recommend reviewing all of your guidelines with an attorney before you start. Here’s an example of why this matters and why this is so important: Let’s imagine you’re renting out your house, and you have in place a strict “no pets” policy. You just found a great tenant, but then discovered they have a service dog—but for emotional support, not for any apparent disability(ies). You have no idea if the service dog is actually legitimate. When you meet the dog, you discover he’s a huge Great Dane who probably weighs up to 150 pounds. You don’t want to discount the prospective tenant’s need for a service dog, but part of you wonders if it’s a scheme—if they’re just using the “service dog” as an excuse to have their large pet move with them into your home. But you don’t know how to handle the situation. For example, are you even allowed to ask if the dog is a legit support animal? What do you do? Do you just rent the house to them and accept the risk of having the “service dog” damage your property (chewing a hole in the front door, wrecking your new sofa set, tearing up
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