State Specific Question About: OHIO (OH)

No, and in fact it's usually not advisable. My favorite is, "You do not meet our written criteria."

If you give them reasons, that opens up avenue to arguments. "What do you mean my credit's bad? It's good enough for THIS place!" Plus if you deny for credit you're now obliged to send them the letter required by law for credit denial. I never deny on credit. Always something else. Lack of sufficient, documented income, no or poor land lord references, evictions, criminal history, can't pay all move-in funds in cash immediately if approved, etc. All legit reasons and none I'm willing to discuss further once I've made up my mind.

If they ask, "What criteria did you use to deny me?" I tell them to send me a self-addressed, stamped envelop and I will respond within 10 business days of receiving it.

I've been in the biz 10 years and have not received even ONE self-addressed, stamped envelope.

I always tell them [thru mail or email, not verbally] why I denied them.

Example “You indicated that you had NO judgments or collections but your credit report indicated that you had 5 judgments and 10 collections.”

“Poor landlord references” [let them call their former landlords]

“You indicated that you had NO felonies but the background check indicates that you do have 2 felonies” [I always allow them to “explain” their felonies but lying on the application is considered a BIG reason to deny them]

Then I put their phone # on “block” and never talk to them again.

So, since some people mentioned different things, I think it is good to clarify here.

You asked: "Do I need to give a specific reason to deny a applicant?" The answer is: "It depends on the reason."

So, if you deny them because they don't make enough income to qualify then, no, you do not HAVE to give them a specific reason. You could (as some above said they do), but you do not HAVE to.

However, if you run their credit report and find out that they have too many outstanding debts to qualify, then, YES, you do have to give them a reason due to laws concerning credit reports. You have to tell them that they were denied because of something on that report and give them information on how they can contact the credit bureau to verify and/or contest it.

So, it matters WHY you denied them.

Now, the problem is that if you just deny people without telling them why, you sometimes start to look like you are illegally discriminating. If someone applies that happens to be a protected class and you deny them without telling them why -- even if it was for a legit and legal reason -- you could start to raise some red flags that you don't want to raise.

So, you should have a set of WRITTEN CRITERIA detailing what you require to qualify (i.e. a specific income amount, a certain period of job stability, and so on). That way, if it was ever questioned, you have something very well defined to explain why you denied them without running into illegal discrimination issues.

- John...