Background Screening

The Colorado Supreme Court recently ruled that owners and managers of limited liability companies (LLC) now have less exposure to personal liability and no fiduciary duty toward creditors should the company become insolvent. Limited liability companies are primarily governed by each state’s LLC Act and LLC operating agreement. It is in this way that courts across the nation are being asked to determine a standard for LLC accountability. This landmark ruling makes Colorado very attractive to potential owners and managers forming new LLCs and serves as a precedent for other states. The rental industry in Colorado could stand to benefit greatly because of this appealing reduction to personal liability. Existing property owners operating under LLC can now take a deep breath and new property owners will be drawn to the state for its lower risk investment potential. -H. Evans

In April, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its approach to employee background screening. Many anticipated that the EEOC would be implementing restrictions on the amount of information employers are allowed to monitor when hiring. Outright restrictions would have gone so far as to omit screening for a potential employee’s criminal history. Does an employer have the right to pry into their employees personal lives, in order to establish a pattern of high risk behavior? If a person has a history of theft or violence, do we in the rental community owe it to our residents and staff to be aware of these potential threats and prevent such activity to the best of our ability? Should the EEOC have moved forward with the restrictions, the safety of residents and staff in rental communities would have been greatly impacted. Instead, they recognized a company’s right to conduct consistent and unbiased, job-related background checks thereby ensuring a foundat...

It is the classic nightmare for rental property owners. You do everything possible to protect yourself and your investment from the unscrupulous renter…dutifully screen the applicant for any criminal history…any eviction history…you take a close look at their credit report…you call their references and verify employment and salary. Everything looks stellar, perfect and wonderful…until it isn’t. The worst has happened and you ask yourself: HOW did this person get past all of my efforts weed out high risk residents? The answer is simple…criminals are not above stealing. Identity theft paints these criminals as stellar residents gaining them access to your rental property. Avoid finding yourself mired in nightmare tenancy by following these three simple steps: 1.)     Obtain social security verification in all your screening reports 2.)     Check for valid photo identification on each applicant 3.)     Conduct regular inspecti...

Recently HUD issued a Final Ruling on disparate impact, which went into effect March 18, 2013. If you’re not sure what disparate impact is let’s start at the beginning... Congress enacted the Fair Housing Act-FHA in 1968 and revised it in 1988 "to provide, within constitutional limitations, for fair housing throughout the United States ." The key provisions prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin in connection with residential real estate transactions. The courts have recognized two forms of discrimination. The first is Disparate Treatment. This is an intentional discriminatory act. The second is Disparate Impact. This is a practice that is seemingly neutral in its treatment of different groups but may result in one group of people being more harshly treated than another. HUD’s Final Ruling on disparate impact states that a practice is deemed to have a discriminatory effect “where it actually...

If you believe the world will end on December 21, 2012 you can skip the rest of this article.   However if you’re concerned about the increased number of natural disasters and want to encourage your renters to be prepared you may want to take notes. Many property owners leave move-in gifts for new renters as a way to say welcome.   Why not put together a disaster kit for them?   As hurricanes, wildfires, snow storms and other natural disasters increase survival kits have become very popular.   The cost to setup a complete survival kit may exceed your budget for a move-in gift so start small with some basics.   First you will need a large plastic tub.   Fill it with a basic first aid kit, personal hygiene items, matches in a water proof container and a flash light with batteries.   Make sure to add a survival kit check list so your renters can complete the emergency kit with other items like food and water.   If you need a full list of recomme...

Hello Apartment Industry Advocates! With the election a mere five weeks away, it seems appropriate to devote this edition of the Apartment Industry Mobilization Service (AIMS) communication to our role as advocates for the apartment industry in the upcoming election. There is no denying it – this year’s election has the capacity to impact every level of government. Not only will control of the White House and House and Senate be decided on Election Day, but 11 governors and numerous state legislatures, city councils and mayors’ races, 166 statewide initiatives in 35 states and a staggering number of local community questions will also be determined. Although media attention may be focused on the presidential election, virtually everything federal, state and local policymakers do, or don’t do, impacts your business and your bottom line. So, no matter which side of the political aisle you’re on, your participation and vote on all these ballot items are vita...

Do you allow dogs in your rental properties?   Do you have a pet policy in place that restricts certain breeds? Recently in a 4-3 decision, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that owners of pit bulls, mixed breed pet bulls and the landlord can be held strictly liable for damages resulting from the dogs attack. Wikipedia states , strict liability is a standard for liability which may exist in either a criminal or civil context. A rule specifying strict liability makes a person legally responsible for the damage and loss caused by his or her acts and omissions regardless of culpability (including fault in criminal law terms, typically the presence of mens rea ). Strict liability is prominent in tort law (especially product liability ), corporations law , and criminal law . The new ruling changes the current laws dealing with pit bull attacks.   The simple presence of the animal on the property is enough to establish a case for damages.   The Maryland Court o...