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Full
Article:
It's my property so I'll let
it to whom I want!
This might be the understandable
sentiment of many a landlord but with modern laws
the landlord must not discriminate on certain specified
grounds:
- Race and ethnic
background
- Religion
- Sex
- Disability
Landlords and letting
agents should familiarise themselves with the legislation
in this area and should also be aware of the
requirements of the Human Rights Act
However, the modern
landlord is able to discriminate on those
critical factors which qualify or disqualify tenants,
for example:
- Financial - the
ability to pay rent as determined by credit checks
and references
- Character and
past behaviour as determined by references etc.
So long as you don't
discriminate on the specified grounds you can let to
whoever you like. If you don't want smokers, tenants
with children, tenants with pets, etc, you don't have to
take them.
It is important to bear
in mind that landlords should be consistent in
the way they apply their tenant selection criteria. For
example, it would be discriminatory to put some tenants
through credit check procedures and not do this for
others.
In the event of legal
proceeding taken against a landlord for discrimination
it is vital that documentary evidence is
available to verify the selection procedure and the
criteria applied.
©
LandlordZONE 2006 |
