I learned I'm not allowed reject tenants based on source of income. Can I still require them to have $2000 a month in income for a public assistance recipient, where the agency says it will pay the $700 a month in rent? I don't do credit checks, as none of the applicants ever have good credit where I rent. --108.176.xxx.xxx

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John,why do you say you cant reject on source of income? The governor was recently talking about passing something saying we cant in NY disqualify based on source of income but I have not heard that it actually is the case.Who told you this? --72.231.xxx.xxx

The easiest thing to do is simply say - you are not inspected for Section 8, which is the truth. Usually, people do not want to wait around to coordinate getting that done. --32.211.xxx.xxx

Credit Reports are not just a score, its an id checker, see how often they move, what other debts they have like new car loans, different spellings of names, joint or single accounts, what kind of debt they haven't paid like school loans, medical, fingerhut or the jewelry store. I would advise to run a credit report on every single applicant, dont let that be where you save some money. --74.104.xxx.xxx

I'm in Syracuse, and its a city wide law passed in 2016. A fair housing person brought it to my attention cause I posted no section 8 or Public assistance, that I couldn't reject because of their source of income. Not sure if that means I can still require a minimum income. Obviously, if public assistance will pay $700, does that count in the calculation of their income, or am I going about this wrong? --108.176.xxx.xxx

There is likely another reason to reject, do you know that Sec8 housing is no longer allowing smoking? I took it a step further and no vaping permitted on the property either. --76.188.xxx.xx

Yes you can require that the tenant earn three times the rent and be able to prove it or two or four times the rent. That disqualifies welfare people. You are entitled to charge what you want for your rental and require that the tenant make enough to pay it. --73.178.xxx.xx

Maybe they mean you just can't put "no Section 8" in your ad? If S8 person calls you could just tell them the unit hasn't been inspected or approved for S8. --72.188.xxx.xxx

You cannot put in your ad something along the lines of "Section 8 need not apply or no Section 8, etc". When someone calls and tells you they are Section 8, you just say it is not inspected for Section 8. You are NOT required to get your apartment approved for Section 8 ahead of time. However, if someone meets your criteria (which is why I suggest you have a written criteria that applies to everyone equally) that is Section 8 and you accept them, then you have to go through the process. Usually when I tell people my place is not inspected for Section 8, that is the end of the conversation. Of the ones that make it to the application process, most of them are incapable of filling out complete information. What is your credit score requirement? What is your income requirement, etc? Yes, you have to count whatever Section 8 contributes into the income. --32.211.xxx.xxx

Fortunately in IL we have no laws about source of income. Two problems with some sources: some are not garnishable and if source requires no work on the part of my class C tenants, they tend to sleep all day and party all night and disturb folks who have to get up and go to work in the morning. --67.186.xxx.xxx

Primary income such as SS, employment, etc. should be disclosed especially if that is their primary source. However, applicant are not required to disclosure alimony, child support, or disability payments. --71.75.xx.xx

If rent is too low then there will be many apply who are on social assistance. Two areas which are not liked by social assistance. One a higher rent then the cap social assistance will pay along with having all the utilities separate as many have arrears with the utilities. In the town of Hanover, Ontario social assistance has a cap of $800.00 per month all inclusive last time checked. So having a rent of $850 to $900 per month along with not having utilities included that screens out automatically. Anyone who unpaid utilities will eventually have unpaid rent. So it may time to look at separating out all the utilities along with increasing rent as this should screen out. Here the only people who operate all inclusive along with lower rent are the government owned rental units as there are large subsidies.It is expensive to install a wall mounted high efficiency gas boiler in the rental unit but over time it gradually pays off as more responsible tenants along with lower operating costs. --147.194.xxx.xx

I had a lady contact me recently said she'd been working at a group home for 1 1/2 years. She stated that she makes a lot of overtime ( regular pay is $11.00) She has 2 teenage girls and a 1 year old. She is also attending school. Poor thing. Tell me how she can afford a $600.00 a month unit? Why do I have to convince them if they don't already have enough sense to know it? They just get mad.... --71.219.xx.xxx