Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

In examining landlords’ screening processes, studies have primarily focused on their first interactions with prospective tenants. However, landlords’ screening may begin prior to these interpersonal interactions—through their advertisements for available units—which influence the extent to which renters act upon their housing and neighborhood preferences as they search for housing. Rental listings provide important information about property details (e.g., rents, property size, location), but also landlords’ criteria for tenant eligibility (e.g., criminal backgrounds, previous evictions, employment status, housing subsidy). These criteria signal desired tenant characteristics and may steer tenants’ housing searches—perhaps in ways that do not align with their housing preferences—even if landlords do not ultimately follow their own criteria as they interact with prospective tenants to fill vacancies.

This study employs quantitative data from online rental property listings in Cleveland, OH and interviews with 57 landlords in the Cleveland metropolitan area between 2013 and 2015, who primarily owned properties in lower- and middle-income communities. It explores the multi-stage process by which landlords may determine access to housing—especially for households that face obstacles to housing security based on stigmatized characteristics (e.g., previous evictions, criminal convictions, unemployment). Analysis of rental listings showed that listings for properties in lower-income and predominantly black communities included more statements associated with rigorous screening based on employment status and residential history. Conversely, landlords who rented properties in communities with more low-income and black residents stated in interviews that they engaged in less rigorous screening, due to a limited tenant pool interested in their properties and perceived urgency to fill vacancies in order to minimize financial losses (e.g., lost rent, vandalism of vacant properties). This inconsistency between landlords’ tenant preferences (stated through rental listings) and the decisions they make after interacting with interested tenants directly may create obstacles to securing housing, and at the same time, also increase financial losses for landlords.