The Silent War on Landlords That No One Is Talking About

[Andrew Syrios]

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/the-silent-war-on-tenant-...

The Silent War on Landlords That No One Is Talking About

It’s no secret that legislation regarding tenant screening is becoming more and more restrictive. As of this writing, 20 states and 106 localities have passed bans on discriminating against source of income (usually, but not limited to, Section 8) as well as a myriad of other restrictions.

What Happened in Kansas City

Kansas City, where I live, was the most recent to pass what its advocates call “the strongest source of income discrimination ban in the country.” The bill (which you can read here) does more than just prohibit refusing to accept vouchers (and, of course, nothing will be done to make the notoriously slow and difficult Section 8 bureaucracy easier to work with). It also drastically interferes with the ability of property owners to screen potential residents.

As I’ve said, tenant screening is the most important thing a property manager does. Without quality screening, almost no investment property will work. Yet, bills like this are making it more and more difficult.

This was actually the second time such a bill had been proposed. The first was in 2019 and resulted in the Kansas City Tenant Bill of Rights, which did little more than restate current law. But the original draft was to ban tenant screening pretty much entirely.

This meant serious implications. Would you like to reject that serial child molester from living next door to a family with young kids? Under that law, you’d be considered a greedy slumlord engaging in oppression.

Fortunately, that was mostly eliminated in 2019 and toned down here. Still, the bill still doesn’t allow landlords “to refuse to rent to a tenant solely because of prior evictions or alleged damages” or “solely because of prior convictions or arrests” without “reference to additional information provided.”

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Continued: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/the-silent-war-on-tenant-...