The Biden Administration made another series of announcements in its quest to protect people who rent their homes.

In addition to plans for incentives to change local and state zoning and housing regulations to allow more housing to be built, there was extensive reference to existing regulations that cover the use of tenant screening reports, which "contain information such as a person's credit characteristics, rental history, or criminal history," as the Federal Trade Commission noted. That places the reports under the auspices and requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

In the case of an adverse action — for example, denying the application, requiring a co-signer, asking for a deposit that might not be required of another renter, or charging a higher amount of rent — you must provide the applicant or tenant a written, oral, or electronic notice. Oral notification is probably not wise as it becomes harder to prove that it occurred.