With everyone on social media these days, it’s easier than ever to learn about your potential tenants beyond their credit score and how much they earn. This fact is a double-edged sword because while it provides an insight into their lifestyle and personality, which can be easily missed on paper, it can also create an unfair playing field. The chances of violating fair housing concerns when checking tenants based on social media also increase. After spending time and money on renovating and marketing your property to rank higher and sell more, it’s only wise to use every tool in your arsenal.
The Rise of Using Social Media in Tenant Screening
Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (now X) are quickly becoming the go-to for looking into additional information about tenants. Even LinkedIn is useful for learning about people’s careers and fact-checking their employment details. Many landlords are adding social media inspections as part of their requirements for renting, as it grants them a window into a prospective tenant’s habits and lifestyle. However, consider taking everything posted online with a grain of salt to avoid creating bias on their rental application.
Key Fair Housing Concerns
Unintentional Bias
Browsing through a tenant’s social media profile can reveal that they fall under a protected class. For example, you could learn about their religion, sexual orientation, or family status, which are details they wouldn’t have to disclose in a standard rental application, but are technically public knowledge. Since Fair Housing Laws don’t allow landlords to discriminate based on these details, it can be tricky to make a final decision without letting that information influence you. Property owners are human, and it’s difficult not to hold a small bias towards tenants who match our backgrounds, and be wary of those who don’t. Bay Property Management Group San Antonio Texas can provide screening criteria that comply with Fair Housing Laws.
Consistency in Screening Criteria
Another issue with using social media in your rental screening is that it can lead to consistency issues. If you’re choosing between two applicants and one is very open about their lifestyle, while the other isn’t, it can easily sway you in favor of one person over the other. On the other hand, if you use social media to screen some tenants and not others, it can also be a form of unequal treatment. Thus, you should strive to create a uniform criterion to the best of your abilities.
Privacy and Ethical Concern
While using social media can be helpful, tenants are still entitled to a certain level of privacy. As a result, it’s not ethical to do a deep dive on all your applicants in the name of a rental screening. You should be on the lookout for signs of fraud, violence, or evidence that the information they provide online doesn’t match their application. However, if you’re spending hours watching them dance on TikTok or reviewing their vacation pictures, you may be crossing a line that you have to be aware of.
Focusing on a Standard Screening Criteria
-
Use a Uniform Criteria
Apartment screening can take time, depending on the rental history of a tenant, and especially if you’re adding social media to the mix. Thus, it would be best to develop a uniform criterion to assess each applicant. If you want to stay out of legal trouble, Fair Housing Laws should serve as your guide when creating your uniform criteria. You should also have policies on how to handle applicant information to avoid data privacy concerns.
-
Develop a Written Policy
With your criteria formed, the next step is to put them down on paper. It’s not enough to have a uniform policy in your head; you also need a written one for legal purposes. Besides acting as evidence that your screening process is fair to all candidates, it also serves as a reminder for future rentals, and if you have staff or third-party screening services working on your behalf. Your checklist should include criteria such as the minimum credit score, policies on exclusion based on negative rental or criminal history. You can also include income requirements, such as applicants earning at least double the monthly rent. Written standards make it easier to compare tenants on a more equal scale.
Conclusion
Social media can offer extra insight into potential tenants, but using it during tenant screening comes with serious fair housing risks. While the practice is becoming more common, it can expose landlords to unintentional bias, inconsistent decision-making, and privacy concerns. To stay compliant with fair housing laws, it’s critical to focus on standard, objective screening criteria and apply the same process to every applicant.
