When choosing a tenant are landlords allowed to choose based upon their criminal record and background?

Criminal background checks are legal as long as the background information is limited to a certain timeframe and comes from a reliable source. The search must be for the purpose of finding past criminal charges which could potentially put other neighbors in danger.

If criminal background checks are used for screening, it is recommended that you utilize a tenant screening company which is established and has guidelines in place regarding the details and age of the past criminal activity.

A company that we have used is Kroll Factual Data (factualdata.com), we also have software that we use through the Property Management arm of Hermann London which helps us complete credit checks, background checks, and employment verification.

Missouri is a state that protects the interest of the tenant much stronger than the interest of the landlord, so at Hermann London Property management we have found its highly important to make sure the potential tenant is a great candidate, before we move them into the property and its a challenge to move them out through an eviction process.

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