Landlords now using Facebook to vet potential tenants

Landlords are reportedly checking out would be tenants on their Facebook pages, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Facebook and social media have come up again and again with reports of people losing job offers or having their college applications declined based on what’s on their Facebook page. People can use social media to make judgments that draw a wider picture than just a transcript, resume, application or interview alone. Simply put, people can use social media as way to say “yes” or “no” to you.

If a landlord sees somebody partying it up big time, they may not rent to that person. What you show on your wall with the pictures can create an image of you that’s not necessarily flattering for somebody looking to do business with you.

Now, the legal issue here: Landlords are opening themselves up to potential lawsuits over various Fair Housing laws and discrimination issues over this practice. So if you go look at the Facebook page of a potential tenant, you know a lot more about them than by law you’re supposed to know.

Landlords are not telling tenants that what they saw on your Facebook page is preventing them from renting to you, but behind the curtain that is potentially what’s going on.

The thing you need to know is that in so many ways, what is posted by you and about you can come back to help you or hurt you. Your reputation follows you in ways it never did before the era of Facebook.