How do I find out why my rental application was declined?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
How do I find out why my rental application was declined?
My son was banned from our rental community after a violent episode . He lived there 6 months and has been gone 6 months. I asked the manager if he could come back and she said we could give our 30 day notice. i applied for an apartment and was declined because of my rental history. What can I do? My credit was approved and my rent was never late.
Asked on June 15, 2012 under Real Estate Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
The only way to find out why your application was denied would be to sue the landlord and/or management company and use the legal mechanism of "discovery," which is available in lawsuits (e.g. written interrogatories or questions; document production requests; depositions--though those last are expensive) to get the information.
Note though that as long as they are not discriminating on certain protected bases, such as against you due to your race, a landlord is entitled to decide who to rent to and who to not rent to; a landlord may decline to rent to someone with good credit and references, for example, if there had been some past problem with a memmber of that person's family. Therefore, you may not have a valid legal claim or cause of action.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.