No federal list of approved screening criteria exists. The Fair Housing Act bars refusing to rent because of seven protected characteristics, so criteria hold up when they are written before you advertise, objective, and applied to every applicant identically. Colorado and California go further and cap what you may ask. HUD withdrew its criminal-records guidance in 2025.
What Actually Makes a Screening Criterion Defensible?
Read 42 U.S.C. § 3604 and notice what it prohibits: refusing to rent, or setting different terms, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status or national origin, plus a separate prohibition on disability discrimination (the statute says handicap). The exposure is the difference in treatment, which is what an unwritten criterion risks producing across different managers and different weeks. So the test is three questions. Is the criterion written down before the listing goes live? Is it a number or a documented fact rather than an impression? Did every applicant get measured against the same version of it? One caveat sits inside the uniformity rule: § 3604(f)(3)(B) makes refusing a reasonable accommodation for a disability its own violation, so an identical process still needs a documented exception path. This page is information, not legal advice; rules change and vary by municipality.
Which Criteria Are Safe, and What Limits Them?
| Criterion | What keeps it defensible | A named limit to check |
|---|---|---|
| Income relative to rent | One written multiple, applied to every applicant | Colorado bars requiring income above 200% of the annual cost of rent (C.R.S. § 38-12-904(1)(d)) |
| Credit and rental history | A written standard with the same lookback for everyone | Colorado: no credit or rental history beyond seven years before the application date (§ 38-12-904(1)(a)) |
| Criminal record | Convictions only, against a written and time-limited standard | Colorado: no arrest records at all, and no conviction older than five years except listed offences (§ 38-12-904(1)(b)) |
| Source of income | Not a criterion at all where it is protected | California protects source of income, defined to include Section 8 vouchers (Gov. Code § 12955(a), (p)(1)) |
| The questions you ask at intake | Ask only about criteria you published | California bars an owner from making any written or oral inquiry about the characteristics § 12955(b) lists (a list that covers protected characteristics but NOT source of income, which § 12955(p)(2) expressly allows you to ask about) |
Sources: Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 38 and Cal. Gov. Code § 12955. Colorado also makes an income-rule violation income discrimination under C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1)(q), and requires a written denial notice giving reasons.
Did HUD's Criminal-Records Guidance Change?
Yes, and most checklists online have not caught up. In a notice published on April 6, 2026 in the Federal Register, HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity confirmed it had withdrawn a list of guidance documents effective September 17, 2025 (removed from active use, not to be relied upon as authoritative). The list includes the guidance on applying Fair Housing Act standards to criminal records, and FHEO 2020-01 on assistance animals; the 2016 criminal-records guidance PDF no longer resolves on hud.gov. Note what did not change: the same notice says actions that do not comply with the text of the Fair Housing Act remain subject to HUD enforcement. The statute stands; the interpretive layer above it thinned. The hard numeric limits now come from state legislatures, which is why the Colorado rows above matter more than they did three years ago.
Does a US Criteria Sheet Work in Canada?
No. Ontario's Human Rights Code, s. 2(1), gives every person a right to equal treatment in the occupancy of accommodation without discrimination because of a longer list of grounds than the federal Fair Housing Act names, including age, citizenship, creed and the receipt of public assistance.
Automation helps with consistency, not compliance. LetHub's AI voice agent and chat answer inquiries in about 30 seconds and prequalify against the criteria you write, so every caller gets the same published questions. The screening decision, the denial notice and the fair-housing duty stay with you. Book a demo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an official list of fair-housing-safe screening criteria?
No. Neither the Fair Housing Act nor HUD publishes an approved list. 42 U.S.C. § 3604 prohibits decisions made because of a protected characteristic, so a criterion is defended by being written before the listing goes live, objective, and applied identically to every applicant, not by appearing on any federal list.
Can a landlord still screen on criminal records?
Criminal-record screening is not banned by federal statute, but HUD withdrew its guidance on applying Fair Housing Act standards to criminal records effective September 17, 2025, and states set their own limits. Colorado, for example, bars considering arrest records at all and convictions older than five years, with listed exceptions.
Can I ask an applicant how they will pay the rent?
It depends on the jurisdiction, and California is narrower than it looks. Gov. Code § 12955(p)(1) protects source of income and includes federal housing vouchers, but § 12955(p)(2) states that an inquiry about the level or source of income is not itself discrimination. What is barred is refusing an applicant, or applying a different standard, because of where lawful income comes from.
Does applying the same rule to everyone guarantee compliance?
No. Under 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B), refusing a reasonable accommodation for a disability is itself discrimination, so a perfectly uniform process can still fail. Document an exception path before the first applicant needs one. This is information, not legal advice. Municipal rules can add requirements the state does not.
