Every landlord eventually has to say no to someone. The question isn’t whether you’ll ever reject an applicant. The question is whether you’ll be able to prove why you did it.
That’s where things get messy. We talk to rental property owners around Philadelphia all the time who assume that having screening criteria on paper is enough. It’s not. The gap between having standards and applying them correctly is where Fair Housing complaints are born, and understanding your full tenant screening process matters before you ever send a denial letter.
Here’s what you actually need to know about turning down an applicant without putting yourself in legal jeopardy.
In This Guide
Why Rejection Feels Simple But Isn’t
Saying “this applicant didn’t qualify” sounds straightforward. But Fair Housing law doesn’t just look at your conclusion. It looks at your process.
Federal law protects applicants based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability. Pennsylvania adds more categories under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. And Philadelphia goes further still with the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance, which makes source of income a protected class locally. That means if you rent in zip codes like 19104, 19143, or 19146, you cannot legally reject an applicant just because they pay with a Housing Choice Voucher.
A lot of owners don’t know that last part. And not knowing doesn’t protect you.
Written Criteria Are Your Foundation
If your screening criteria only exist in your head, you have no defense.
Before Dimitra, our leasing manager, runs a single application through AppFolio, every property in our portfolio has documented criteria on file. Credit score minimums. Income thresholds. Rental history requirements. These are written down, applied to every applicant for that unit, and saved.
Here’s how we think about the numbers. On our average rental at $1,200 a month, a 3x income requirement means any applicant needs to show verifiable monthly income of at least $3,600. That threshold is defensible because it’s tied to a real number and applied consistently. It only becomes a problem when someone waives it for one applicant and not another without writing down why.
The rule is simple: whatever your criteria are, they have to look the same on paper for every single applicant who walks through the door.
The Consistency Problem Is Bigger Than People Think
This is the part that trips up even experienced owners.
We worked with an owner in Spruce Hill who rejected two applicants back-to-back. Both had similar credit profiles. He then approved a third applicant without any written documentation of why that person met the bar when the others didn’t. One of the rejected applicants filed a complaint with the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations. The owner had nothing to point to. No written criteria, no scoring sheet, no denial rationale. He settled for $4,500 to avoid a formal hearing.
“He settled for $4,500 to avoid a formal hearing.”
Was he trying to discriminate? No. Did it cost him $4,500 anyway? Yes.
A moderate, consistently applied standard beats a strict, selectively enforced one every time. You can require a 620 minimum credit score or a 700 minimum. Either works. What doesn’t work is approving someone at 590 for one unit without documenting a legitimate, property-specific reason.
If a rejected applicant is in a protected class and an approved applicant is not, inconsistency alone can cost between $16,000 and $21,000 in settlements and penalties, even if you had zero discriminatory intent. Intent doesn’t matter as much as pattern.
How to Write a Denial Letter That Actually Protects You
Here’s a contrarian take that surprises most owners: a vague denial letter is more dangerous than a specific one.
Common instinct says keep it short, say as little as possible, don’t give the applicant anything to argue with. The opposite is true. A denial that says nothing looks arbitrary. Arbitrary decisions are exactly what Fair Housing investigators look for.
A denial letter that reads “your verified income of $2,100 per month does not meet our minimum threshold of $3,600 per month for this unit” is clean, documented, and defensible. It points to a real criterion applied to a real number. An applicant who files a complaint after receiving that letter faces an uphill climb, because you’ve already shown your work.
Keep copies of everything:
- The original application
- Your written screening criteria for that unit
- The denial letter with the specific reason stated
- Any background or credit report used in the decision
Philadelphia landlords should hold onto these documents for at least two years. PHRC complaints can be filed up to 180 days after the alleged discriminatory act, and you want documentation well past that window.
Criminal History Rejections Are a Minefield in Philadelphia
Philadelphia’s Ban the Box ordinance applies to housing too, not just employment. That means Philadelphia has fair chance screening laws that restrict when criminal history inquiries can be made — check current local ordinances to confirm how these rules apply in a rental housing context, as requirements may differ from the employment context., and even then, you’re required to do an individualized assessment rather than a blanket rejection.
We had an owner in Cedar Park who rejected an applicant based on a misdemeanor from 10 years ago. No individualized assessment. No analysis of what the offense was, how long ago it happened, or whether it was relevant to being a tenant. Under HUD guidance, that’s exactly the pattern that draws scrutiny. The owner avoided a formal complaint, but it required a written response to a PCHR inquiry and several hours of documentation work.
HUD’s 2016 guidance does not prescribe a specific lookback period, but a subsequent HUD proposed rule indicated that lookback periods exceeding 3 years may be difficult to justify. Going further back than that without a specific, documented, property-relevant justification increases your exposure.
Criminal history rejections require an individualized review of the offense type, how long ago it occurred, and why it’s relevant to tenancy at that specific property. “They had a record” is not enough.
Source of Income Is Protected Here. Full Stop.
This is the local rule that catches owners off guard more than any other.
Philadelphia landlords cannot reject a Housing Choice Voucher holder solely because of their voucher. This applies across West Philly neighborhoods like Cedar Park, Walnut Hill, and Spruce Hill, where a significant percentage of renters receive assistance through the Philadelphia Housing Authority. Rejecting voucher applicants in these areas is both legally risky and a practical vacancy problem, given who makes up the renter pool.
We had an owner in Kingsessing ask our leasing team to tell a voucher-holding applicant the unit was “no longer available.” The unit was still actively listed on ShowMojo at the time. Our team flagged it immediately. Steering someone away with a false availability claim is a textbook violation under the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance. The owner was counseled before any further action was taken.
If a voucher holder meets your written criteria, their payment source cannot be the reason you say no.
Student Status, Age, and the University City Problem
Owners with properties in or near University City (19104) regularly ask us to screen out students. We hear some version of “I don’t want college kids in there” pretty often. The issue is that using “student” as a screening criterion can function as a proxy for age discrimination, and in some cases, national origin discrimination, depending on the applicant pool.
Age is a protected class for anyone 18 and older. And HUD has flagged patterns in which student status functions as coded language for something else entirely. We had an owner with a multi-family in West Powelton ask us to screen out University of Pennsylvania students specifically. We explained the exposure, declined to apply that criterion, and walked him through what legitimate criteria we could use instead.
You can set income thresholds, credit requirements, and rental history standards. Those apply equally to students and non-students. That’s the right way to filter.
The Dual Enforcement Layer Only Philadelphia Owners Face
Most landlords think about Fair Housing as a federal issue. In Philadelphia, it’s also a local one.
The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations handles complaints independently from HUD. That means a single applicant can file with both agencies separately. Suburban Pennsylvania landlords deal with one layer of enforcement. Philadelphia landlords deal with two.
A first-time Fair Housing violation that goes to a HUD administrative hearing typically costs between $16,000 and $21,000 when you add up legal fees, settlement costs, and civil penalties. And even a frivolous complaint that gets dismissed can run $500 to $2,000 in administrative time and attorney consultation before it ever reaches a hearing. The paperwork alone is a cost.
Rental property owners with questions about Philadelphia Pennsylvania landlord-tenant law often start with HUD Region III, which has its own Philadelphia office, or they contact the Philadelphia Landlord Tenant Legal Help Center for guidance. Knowing those resources exist before you need them is worth something.
When to Involve a Property Manager
Forty years in this market has taught us a few things. Screening law in Philadelphia is layered enough that individual owners managing one or two properties are genuinely exposed just from not knowing what they don’t know.
We manage around 1,000 properties for approximately 250 owners, and a big part of what Dimitra’s leasing team does every day is create and apply documented screening criteria before a single application is processed. Not because we’re overly cautious. Because it’s the only way to reject someone confidently when the situation calls for it.
If navigating dual-layer enforcement and local ordinances feels harder than it should, we’re open to a conversation.
FAQ
Can I legally reject an applicant with bad credit in Philadelphia?
Yes, as long as your credit score minimum is documented, disclosed, and applied consistently to every applicant for that unit. If your minimum is 620, it needs to be 620 for everyone. Approving one applicant below your stated threshold without a written, documented reason creates real exposure if another rejected applicant files a complaint.
Can Philadelphia landlords reject Section 8 applicants?
No, not on the basis of their voucher alone. The Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance protects source of income as a class, which means Housing Choice Voucher holders cannot be rejected simply because they use rental assistance. If they meet your written screening criteria, the voucher itself cannot be the reason for denial.
What happens if a rejected applicant files a Fair Housing complaint against me?
The applicant has one year to file with HUD after an adverse action, and 180 days to file with the PHRC. If a complaint moves to a HUD administrative hearing, total costs including legal fees and civil penalties typically run between $16,000 and $21,000 for a first offense. Even complaints that are dismissed early can cost $500 to $2,000 in documentation and attorney time.
Can I ask about criminal history on a rental application in Philadelphia?
No. Philadelphia’s Ban the Box ordinance prohibits asking about criminal history on an initial rental application. You can only ask after making a conditional offer, and any decision based on criminal history must include an individualized assessment of the offense type, how long ago it occurred, and its relevance to the tenancy.
What records should I keep after rejecting an applicant?
Hold onto the original application, your written screening criteria for that unit, the denial letter with the specific reason stated, and any background or credit report used in the decision. Keep everything for at least two years to cover the PHRC’s 180-day complaint window and any subsequent review period.
Is it legal to avoid renting to college students near University City?
Using “student” as a screening criterion is legally risky in Philadelphia because it can function as a proxy for age or national origin discrimination. You can apply income, credit, and rental history standards that any applicant, including students, must meet. You cannot instruct a leasing team to filter applications based on student status as a category.