Advertising Rental Properties
There are many different approaches to advertising rental properties. Many landlords have found through experience that there is no one best advertising approach that helps to fill a vacancy. What works is usually conditioned upon a number of factors. Market supply and demand in the local rental area and the area demographics may influence the type of advertising media and the media platform. Property location, property characteristics, and rental policies may be a factor in how long it takes to fill the vacancy regardless of the advertising method. Budgetary considerations and the urgency to fill a vacancy may also influence what advertising method is used. Word of mouth advertising, social media and online marketing sites (e.g., Craigslist, Zillow) are some of the most commonly used advertising methods.
Advertising Approaches
A broad advertising approach blankets the potential market with information made available to large numbers of people to allow them to determine their interest and initiate contact. Traditional newspaper classified ads and online vacancy postings are examples of broad advertising approaches.
For some local markets a more defined advertising approach may be appropriate for the property and rental area. Word of mouth advertising and placing “For Rent” signs on the property are examples of a narrow, defined approach to advertising. It may take longer to fill a vacancy when using narrowly defined advertising methods.
Studies have shown that word of mouth advertising from existing tenants can be quite effective particularly in small regional markets. Word-of-mouth advertising can also come from referrals from family, co-workers, and friends.
While most advertising will eventually attract attention from potential renters, effective use of advertising can reduce vacancy down time and associated costs. Realistically, a combination of advertising methods is usually required to provide an adequate number of rental prospects for application and qualification.
While researching the local market area and developing advertising copy, a landlord may be able to use market information to compare the features of his rental property to other rental properties in his local area. Research of market demographic data may help identify market trends or desirable consumer lifestyle amenities which could be used in planning future services or property upgrades and improvements. Using demographic data to target a preferred segment of rental population is discriminatory and illegal under fair housing laws.
Some landlords may think that because the rental market is often described in generational segments such as Millennials, or Gen X, or other type of descriptive label, advertising of a rental property must be specifically directed to appeal to a particular segment within the rental market. Advertising and marketing of a rental property including the filling of a vacancy must always be conducted in a non-discriminatory manner according to standard rental policies and procedures and applicable laws. A vacancy is a vacancy and should be filled with a qualified applicant. The first applicant qualified under a landlord’s rental standards is the next tenant.
Fair Housing and Advertising
In advertising vacancies a landlord must make sure his advertising complies with fair housing requirements at all levels of governance. At the federal level, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended in 1988, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and handicap.
Section 804(c) of the Fair Housing Act specifically makes it unlawful to make, print, or publish, (or cause to be made, printed, or published), any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling, that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or handicap. This prohibition against discriminatory advertising applies to single-family and owner-occupied housing that is otherwise exempt from the Fair Housing Act.
The principal purpose of fair housing advertising is to advertise in an inclusive way that will attract the broadest possible customer base, and to avoid expressing any preference for or against certain people. Advertising should be reviewed to make sure it is in compliance with fair housing requirements. The important questions to ask when reviewing your advertising are:
- What message is being sent?
- Does the advertisement communicate preferences for or against particular people?
- Does the advertisement describe the housing and not the people?
In determining whether advertising constitutes a discriminatory housing practice, courts have generally applied a “reasonable person” standard. What this means is that liability is incurred by a person or entity if they make an advertisement that indicates a preference and that preference is readily apparent to an ordinary reader.
Truth in Advertising
Advertising should be honest and truthful in statements of rental terms, conditions, and policies and descriptions of property features and amenities. When advertising a rental vacancy, the ad should clearly state in a non-discriminatory manner the basic rent details that a person would need to know in order to determine an interest in the property. Basic details commonly include property location, size (e.g., number of bedrooms, baths), rent amount, deposit/fees, availability date, lease term, and important policies (e.g., pets allowed, credit check required). Bait and switch advertising is illegal under consumer fraud laws.
Landlords should take care not to exaggerate when describing features of their rental property in communications with prospective tenants. The choice of words (oral or written) and the manner in which the words are spoken or communicated in writing can potentially cause problems for the landlord. A landlord can increase his liabilities and responsibilities by his actions and his promises.
As a business practice, a landlord must mean what he says and commit to keeping to his word. In advertising his property/vacancy, a landlord must not falsely portray what is actually provided. If the landlord does not actually provide what was promised and fails to maintain in good working order what was originally provided, the landlord may find that his failures create a liability for any criminal acts that those measures would have prevented. The landlord’s actions could be held to be a material factor in the cause or contribution of a crime. If the landlord had not promised such measures in the first place, he might have not created the liability for himself.
A landlord must keep the promises made in his landlord-tenant lease agreement. The lease agreement is the contract between landlord and tenant detailing the rights and responsibilities of each party. In his written lease agreement and supplemental documents the landlord makes specific provisions and promises. A landlord may also make them by his oral statements. Promises can be either made explicitly or implied. As an example, if the landlord in his lease agreement asserts that security measures such as protective door locks and security patrols are provided, the landlord must deliver such services. The tenant signing the lease agreement has every right to expect and depend upon those assertions. If the landlord’s policy regarding lost keys or lock-outs has specific procedures for the tenant to follow and the tenant in good faith follows those procedures but the landlord does not perform, should the tenant suffer harm, the landlord has created liability by his own negligent acts.
If the landlord states, promises, or implies by his words or actions that a future amenity will become available, the applicant/tenant has cause to believe that he can rely upon that statement, promise or action for his future planning and decision making. Again, advertising and action create contingent liability.
The landlord may take the opposite approach in creating his lease agreement and/or supplemental documents by including lease clauses that try to absolve the landlord of any and all responsibility for tenant safety, in effect stating that the tenant is on his own. This attempt to escape liability for criminal acts or for negligent actions does not eliminate the landlord’s liability. While it can reduce the effect of such liability, there are provisions under law that must be satisfied. Failure to follow state and local requirements for the health and safety of tenants activates the landlord’s liability.
Not all tenant amenities are advertised or brought to a prospective tenant’s attention during an initial visit. Not all amenities are mentioned in the written lease agreement or supplemental documents. When landlords provide certain amenities the landlord’s actions in providing such amenities have the effect of obligating the landlord just as if there were oral or written agreements for such. Even though the landlord did not mention these amenities, the landlord has incurred the responsibility to retain the amenities and keep them in good working order.
Document Retention
All advertising copy and information regarding responses should be kept for the period of time that complies with applicable document retention policies regarding the subject matter. By documenting your advertising efforts you can determine what advertising method(s) may be most effective for your property under various market conditions. Additionally, documentation can help provide a defense against claims of discriminatory advertising policies.