David Brauer wrote:
However, reading the Strib article about the renters who paid over $100 for four application background checks gave me pause. It seems to me the property owners need to pool their information and resources to lower background-check fees (for example, one fee good for all applications). Otherwise, some regulation seems needed. $100 or more for the right to get an apartment seems usury for many poorer renters.
A regulation will not make the cost of conducting a background check disappear! If it costs a landlord $40 to conduct a background check but he is limited to charging $25 then he will recoup his losses by raising the rent.
Renting property entails risks. Landlords are inclined to reduce that risk. Background checks are away of reducing that risk. If we prevent landlords from reducing their exposure to risk, they will either recoup their losses through other means, such as increased rent, or they will exit the market. Either option will be bad for those this proposed ordinance is designed to protect.
I like King Banaian's proposal "where applicants would get a single certified copy of their records, so they would not have to keep paying the same application fee." Maybe the Minneapolis Property Rights Action Committee, the Minnesota Tenants Union, the Jobs and Affordable Housing Coalition, and the Minnesota Multi Housing Association could join forces to implement such a system.
Scott McGerik Hawthorne http://scott.mcgerik.com/
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