Are landlords allowed to require a minimum credit score in accordance with Fair Housing Law?

In Virginia, landlords are not allowed to require a minimum credit score in accordance with Fair Housing Law. This law is in place to protect renters from being discriminated against based on certain characteristics. The Virginia Fair Housing Law mandates that all residential housing accommodations must be made available without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. This means that landlords cannot deny a rental application for a qualified applicant if their credit score falls below a certain threshold. Landlords are not allowed to ask applicants for their credit scores, nor penalize them for having lower scores, as doing so would be seen as discrimination. Furthermore, landlords are not allowed to take other non-credit related factors into consideration when assessing an applicant’s creditworthiness such as occupation, gender, or age. On the other hand, landlords are allowed to run credit checks on applicants and consider their credit scores as a part of their decision making process. However, it is important to note that landlords must still use their discretion when assessing applicants and should be aware that requiring a minimum credit score could be a violation of the Fair Housing Law. Whenever landlords assess an applicant’s credit score, they must be sure to look beyond the score alone to determine an applicant’s creditworthiness.

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Are landlords allowed to require a minimum credit score in accordance with Fair Housing Law?

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