“For better or worse” may not apply to credit scores.
Consider a situation in which a married couple applies for an apartment. One spouse has a credit score of 550 and the other has one of 475. The rental policy at the community states that anyone with a score of less than 500 will not qualify to live at the community, but there is one exception to that policy—in the case of a married couple, only one credit score must be over 500. Roommates, however, do not qualify for this exception—even “friends with benefits.”
Does this policy create any fair housing issues? Perhaps. It depends on whether they live in locations (state or local) where marital status has been deemed a protected class for housing. (See chart on page 68.)
If marital status is a protected class, this policy would be found to unlawfully discriminate against the roommates (friends with benefits or otherwise) simply because they are not married.
So wisdom would dictate that if policies based on “marital status” exist, find out what the protected classes are for your community (not just the federally protected classes, but the state and local ones, too) and make sure that your credit score policy (well, all of your policies actually) comply with the law.
I learn something every day. And I have just learned that at some communities, being “friends with benefits” does not confer any benefit at all when it comes to rental applicant approval. (Although how many FWBs entered into the relationship for that reason anyhow? Then again, you never know…)
Nadeen Green is Senior Counsel with For Rent Media Solutions. She can be reached at 770/801-2406 or nadeen.green@forrent.com. This item originally appeared as a blog on www.Multifamilyinsiders.com. For more articles and best practices on Fair Housing, check out the Fair Housing Library at NAA Community under the Libraries tab at http://community.naahq.org.