Application Guidelines & Disclosure of Eligibility Criteria
We place emphasis on the fair and respectful treatment of all applicants and residents. We are an equal opportunity housing provider and comply with all national and local fair housing laws.
Please review the following eligibility criteria upon which we rely in making rental determinations. We do not accept guarantors or co-signers. All individuals 18 years of age and over who will reside in the unit are required to complete an application and pay the application fee. If approved, all individuals 18 years of age and over who will reside in the unit are required to sign the lease as a named tenant.
Application Fee. All individuals 18 years of age and over who will reside in the apartment must complete an application and provide all required supporting documents. A $50.00 refundable application fee is required for each applicant. Application fees can be paid by money order, certified check, or PayPal only. Cash, credit cards, and personal/company checks are NOT accepted. All application fees are due at time of application and are required before the application can be processed. If an applicant cancels their application prior to the application review beginning, the application fee will be refunded in full. After the application review begins, the application fee becomes non-refundable. You have the right to a refund of any unused portion of your application fee.
Rental Application. A review of the information and supporting documents provided by each applicant in connection with their respective applications. False or misleading information or false, fraudulent, or forged documents provided by an applicant are grounds for denial of the application.
Credit Screening. Each applicant's consumer credit history is reviewed, including, but not limited to, the number and frequency of non-payments and/or late payments, the number and size of outstanding account balances, charge-offs, collection activity, defaults, and judgments. An applicant's credit score is reviewed and considered, but no adverse action shall be taken solely on the basis of applicant's credit score. The review of an applicant's consumer credit history is pursuant to applicable District of Columbia law. See D.C. Code § 42-3505.10(e); see also D.C. Code § 2-1402.21(g). Insufficient consumer credit history is grounds for denial of the application.
Landlord & Tenant Court History. Each applicant's Landlord & Tenant Court history is reviewed, but only for cases where a judgment for possession was entered in favor of the landlord and only if the case was filed within three years prior to the date of the application. The review of an applicant's Landlord & Tenant Court history is pursuant to applicable District of Columbia law. See D.C. Code § 42-3505.10(d); see also D.C. Code § 2-1402.21(h). An eviction occurring within the three (3) year look-back period is grounds for automatic denial of the application.
Income/Employment Verification. We accept all lawful sources of income. Gross monthly income (or, in the case of multiple applications, combined gross monthly income) must equal at least two and one-half (2½) times the monthly rental amount (or, in the case of an applicant with a subsidy, that portion of the monthly rental amount, if any, to be paid directly to the Landlord by the applicant and not paid to the subsidy provider). Each applicant must submit proof of income, which can include the applicant's 2 most recent bank statements, 2 most recent pay stubs, proof of payments from federal and local programs (e.g., Rapid Re-Housing, permanent supportive housing, VASH, Shelter Plus Care), proof of rental subsidy, housing choice vouchers (Section 8), SSI, unemployment insurance payments, alimony, veteran's benefits, disability benefits payments (SSDI), and award letters for rental subsidies. The foregoing examples of acceptable proof of income are not an exhaustive list, as all lawful sources of income are accepted. For purposes of clarity, an applicant's rental subsidy is considered income attributable to that applicant. An applicant seeking to rent with a rental subsidy where the applicant has a direct payment obligation to Landlord must meet the Landlord's income criteria but only as to that portion of the monthly rent the applicant will be required to pay to Landlord. For example, if the rent for the apartment is $2,500.00/mo. and the subsidy provider will pay Landlord $2,400.00 per month and the applicant will pay Landlord $100.00 per month, the applicant must have gross monthly income of at least $250.00. On the other hand, if the applicant's monthly rent will be paid in full by the subsidy provider, or if the applicant's payment obligation is to the subsidy provider and not the Landlord (and the subsidy provider pays Landlord the full monthly rent without regard as to whether applicant pays its portion of the monthly rent to the subsidy provider), the applicant's subsidy is deemed to meet the Landlord's income criteria. We shall not refuse to rent an apartment to an individual because the individual will provide the rental payment, in whole or in part, through a voucher for rental housing assistance provided by the District of Columbia or federal government. Insufficient income is grounds for denial of the application.
Rental Verification. Each applicant's current landlord will be contacted with a request for information related to your tenancy (subject to the limitations under District of Columbia law). Landlord will inquire into whether you provided proper notice of intention to vacate, the status of your account with your current landlord at the time of vacating or when you provided your notice of intention to vacate, whether there were any complaints regarding your tenancy (e.g., noise complaints, housekeeping issues, excessive wear and tear or damage to fixtures, denial of access to landlord, inappropriate conduct), whether you were issued any 30-Day Notices to Correct or Vacate, and any other issues that may impact your fitness to be a tenant. An unsatisfactory rental verification is grounds for denial of the application.
Criminal Background. We examine the criminal history for each applicant, but only for pending criminal accusations and criminal convictions occurring no more than 7 years prior to the date of the application, and only for those offenses listed in the Fair Criminal Record Screening for Housing Act of 2016 (D.C. Code § 42-3541.01 et seq.), or as otherwise required by applicable Federal law.
Landlord shall extend a conditional offer of housing to the applicant who successfully meets Landlord's application review, consumer credit review, Landlord & Tenant Court history review, income review, and rental verification review. The conditional offer of housing is contingent on the applicant passing Landlord's (i) criminal background review, and (ii) home visit. Only after such conditional offer of housing is issued will Landlord conduct the second part of the screening process by pulling and reviewing the applicant's criminal history and, assuming the criminal history is satisfactory, schedule and conduct the home visit.
If an application is denied due to the applicant's(s') failure to meet Landlord's application review, consumer credit review, Landlord & Tenant Court history review, income review, and rental verification review, Landlord will make no inquiry into or review of applicant's(s') criminal history.
The applicant may provide evidence demonstrating inaccuracies within the applicant's criminal record or evidence of rehabilitation or other mitigating factors. This means the applicant has the right to provide, among other things, evidence of errors in applicant's criminal background report, evidence of applicant's good conduct since the conviction or pending criminal accusation occurred, or other information you would like Landlord to use when evaluating your criminal background. Criminal background history will only be requested, obtained, and considered AFTER Landlord makes a conditional offer of housing to applicant. If the inquiry reveals criminal activity which may disqualify the applicant from renting the apartment, Landlord will provide applicant with written notice affording applicant three (3) calendar days to provide any evidence demonstrating inaccuracies in applicant's criminal history or evidence of rehabilitation, good conduct, other mitigating factors, or other information applicant wants Landlord to consider. DO NOT PROVIDE ANY OF THIS EVIDENCE OR INFORMATION BEFORE YOU RECEIVE A NOTICE FROM LANDLORD. Landlord will consider whether withdrawal of the conditional offer of housing is reasonable and achieves a substantial, legitimate, and nondiscriminatory interest in light of: the severity and nature of the criminal offense(s); the age of the applicant at the time of the criminal offense(s); any information provided by the applicant regarding rehabilitation or good behavior since the criminal offense was committed; the degree to which the criminal behavior would negatively impact the safety of other tenants if it were committed again; and whether the criminal offense was connected to the property leased by the applicant.
Any withdrawal of a conditional offer will be provided in writing and will explain the specific reasons for the withdrawal. Within twenty (20) days after the written notice of withdrawal of conditional offer, applicant has the right to request a free copy of ALL information Landlord relied upon in considering the application, and Landlord must provide such information within ten (10) days of such request from applicant.
Any applicant whose conditional offer was withdrawn has the right to file an administrative complaint with the D.C. Office of Human Rights, 441 4th Street, NW, Suite 570-N, Washington, D.C. 20001 (Telephone (202) 727-4559; TTY 711; Email OHR@dc.gov). Please note that there are limitations on the application of this law, including cases where Federal law requires consideration of an applicant's criminal background when screening applicants.
Although any criminal background check will not be conducted until after a conditional offer of housing has been extended, the applicant is required to sign the authorization for Landlord to conduct the criminal background check.
Home Visit. Upon applicant's(s') meeting Landlord's criminal background review, each applicant's current residence will be visited by a member of Landlord's management team for a visual inspection. Attached to this "Application Guidelines & Disclosure of Eligibility Criteria" is a copy of Landlord's Home Visit Inspection Form, which details the areas of inquiry during a home visit. Home visits will be conducted in person for each applicant who currently resides within a 15-mile radius of the U.S. Capitol. For any applicants residing more than 15 miles from the U.S. Capitol, the home visit will be conducted virtually via only the Zoom or Teams video conferencing platforms. Unsatisfactory housekeeping, excessive clutter, or damage to the current residence exceeding normal wear and tear are grounds for denial of the application.
Rental Determination. Applications are evaluated in a holistic manner, but the following factors will result in automatic denial: (i) eviction within the three (3) years prior to the date of the application (subject to the limitations under District of Columbia law); (ii) unpaid collection accounts as listed on the consumer credit report (subject to the limitations under District of Columbia law); (iii) unpaid balances on accounts closed by the credit provider (subject to the limitations under District of Columbia law); and (iv) unpaid balance at prior rental property (subject to the limitations under District of Columbia law). We will make a rental determination on completed application(s) within three (3) to five (5) business days of receipt of the completed application(s) (including all supporting documents) and payment of the application fee(s). Please note this time may be longer due to the responsiveness of the current landlord (for the rental reference) and/or employer (for the income verification) and/or the scheduling of the home visit and/or, for applicants with a rental subsidy, the responsiveness of the subsidy provider or DCHA to requests for information necessary for applicant screening.
Lease Signing. If the application(s) is(are) approved, all applicants must sign the lease within five (5) business days of notice from us that the application(s) is(are) approved. If any applicant fails to sign the lease by this deadline, the application(s) will be cancelled and the offer to rent rescinded, the apartment will be placed on the market, and the apartment will be rented to the first qualified applicant(s).
Security Deposit. The security deposit is due at lease signing and is in an amount equal to one month's base rent. The security deposit must be paid by cashier's check, certified check, money order, or electronic funds transfer (EFT) via the Tenant Portal. Cash and personal/company checks are NOT accepted for the payment of security deposits. The security deposit is refundable at the conclusion of your tenancy, subject to allowable deductions pursuant to District of Columbia law.
First Month's Rent. Move-ins occurring after the first (1st) of the month will require payment of pro-rated rent. The pro-rated rent is calculated using a thirty (30) day banker's calendar. Move-ins occurring within seven (7) days of the end of the month will require the first (1st) full month's rent paid in addition to the pro-rated rent.
As your prospective landlord, we will obtain a copy of each applicant's credit or consumer report. If the application is declined or adverse action is taken, the applicant may: (i) obtain a free copy of the tenant screening report from the aforementioned company by contacting them directly within sixty (60) days of receipt of the adverse action notice; and (ii) contact the aforementioned company directly to initiate a dispute of any information in applicant's screening report the applicant believes is inaccurate or incomplete.
You may also have additional rights under the credit reporting or consumer protection laws in your state. For more information, please contact your state or local consumer protection agency or state attorney general's office.
You have the right to dispute any information upon which we relied that is inaccurately or incorrectly attributed to you or is based upon our use of prohibited criteria, and you have the right to receive a response from us regarding any information you dispute.
You have the right to file a complaint with the Office of Human Rights or pursue civil action via the Superior Court of the District of Columbia if you believe we have violated applicable District of Columbia tenant screening laws.
If you need to request a reasonable accommodation at any time during the application process, please inform us by contacting homes@amtrealty.net or by calling (301) 543-8850.
