Rental Policy
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETION OF THE ONLINE LEASE APPLICATION AND DISCLOSURE OF ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
We require an in-person or virtual tour before we accept an application. All available apartments sorted by bedroom size can be viewed on our website at keenermanagement.com/availability/.
Each applicant must provide complete and accurate information for each section of the lease application. Once we receive your completed application, a member of our team will confirm receipt and will provide you with instructions for submission of the following documentation:
- A copy of your current, valid Driver’sLicenseor other government-issued photo ID.
- Documents to support your income. See Disclosure of Eligibility Criteria section for examples of documents. We accept all sources of income and shall not refuse to rent a unit to a person because they will provide the rental payment, in whole or in part, through a voucher for rental housing assistance provided by the District or federal government.
- For applicants that do not have a US social security number, a copy of your current, valid Passport and Visa for your current stay in the United States.
We will not review an application until it is complete (all questions answered, all supporting documents uploaded, payment of the application fee). Applications are reviewed in the order in which they are completed.
We are an equal opportunity housing provider. We comply with all applicable fair housing and human rights laws at the federal, state and local levels of each jurisdiction in which we offer rental housing.
Apartments become available when the office receives a “60 Day Written Notice to Vacate” from a resident. We update our list of available apartments as written notices are received, so an apartment that was unavailable in the morning may become available later that same day.
Please review the following eligibility criteria upon which we rely in making rental determinations. All individuals 18 years of age and over who will reside in the apartment are required to complete an application and pay the application fee. The current application fee is $52.00. Any unused portion of the application fee is fully refundable. If the application is approved, all individuals 18 years of age and over who will reside in the apartment are required to sign the lease.
Rental Application–A review of the information and supporting documents provided by each applicant in connection with their respective application. False or misleading information and/or false, fraudulent, or forged documents provided by an applicant are grounds for denial of the application.
Income–We accept all lawful sources of income. Gross monthly income (or, in the case of multiple applicants, the combined gross monthly income of the applicants) must equal at least 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 us by the applicant and not paid by the subsidy provider). Each applicant must submit proof of income. This can include the applicant’s 2 most recent bank statements, 2 most recent brokerage 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 either a short or long-term 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 examples of acceptable proof of income is not an exhaustive list as we accept all lawful sources of income. For the purposes of clarity, an applicant’s rental subsidy is considered income attributable to that applicant. An applicant seeking to rent with a subsidy where the applicant has a direct payment obligation to us must meet our income criteria, but only as to that portion of the monthly rent the applicant will be required to pay to us. We shall not refuse to rent an apartment to an individual because they 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. If you do not have sufficient income you will have the opportunity to present a prospective co-signer for screening.
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 3 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 3 year look-back period is grounds for automatic 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 provide proper notice of intention to vacate, the status of your account with your current landlord at 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.
Consumer Credit History-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. 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. We will obtain your credit/consumer report from Appfolio, Inc.-70 Castilian Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93117- 866-359-3630.
Criminal History-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 criminal background review. 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.
If an application is denied due to any applicant’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 any applicant’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 a written notice affording applicant 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 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 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.
Co-Signers are only an option for applications that do not meet our income criteria. The prospective co-signer must complete an application and pay the applicable application fee. The prospective co-signer must be reside in the United States and meet our co-signer income criteria (gross monthly income must equal at least 5 times the monthly rental amount).
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
You must submit a rental application and pay a $52.00 application fee per applicant or co-signer. Any unused portion of the application fee is fully refundable. An application must be filled out for each individual 18 years of age or older that will be occupying the apartment.
An application will not be reviewed and processed until it is “complete.” For purposes of the application, “complete” means the application is filled out completely with all questions answered; the application is electronically signed; all supporting documents uploaded to Keener Management; and all applicable application fee(s) paid.
Applications are evaluated in a holistic manner, but the following factors will result in automatic denial (subject to the limitations under District of Columbia law): (i) eviction within the 3 years prior to the date of the application; (ii) unpaid collection accounts as listed on the consumer credit report; (iii) unpaid balances on accounts closed by the credit provider; (iv) unpaid balance at prior rental property); (v) fraudulent applications will immediately be rejected and the applicant will not be entitled to submit a corrected application.
We will make a rental determination on completed application(s) within 5 business days of receipt of the completed application(s) (including all supporting documents) and payment of the applicable 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 for applicants with an rental subsidy, the responsiveness of the subsidy provider or DCHA to requests for information necessary for applicant screening.
We do not maintain a “waiting list” at our communities. Your application will not be retained for future vacancies.
HOLDING DEPOSIT
Once your application has been fully approved, a holding deposit of $500 will be required. An on-line link will be established for payment of the holding deposit. Upon your moving into the apartment, this holding deposit is applied against your first month's rent and you will be responsible for payment of the remaining balance.
The holding deposit must be received within 1 business day of notification of application approval. An apartment is taken off the market and is “on-hold” upon receipt of this deposit. Failure to pay the holding deposit within the 1 business day period will result in the apartment being put back on the market and forfeiture of the application fee.
MOVE-IN FEE
After we receive a completed application, we will notify you in writing of your approval/denial status within 5 business days.
If the application is approved, all applicants must sign the lease within 2 business days of notice from us that the application is approved. If any applicant fails to sign the lease by this deadline, the application(s) will be cancelled and offer to rent rescinded, the apartment will be placed on the market, and the apartment will be rented to the first qualified applicant.
A Move-In fee of $500 will be required after lease signing. This fee must be paid prior to receiving keys.
OCCUPANCY GUIDELINES
We follow the occupancy guidelines set by The District of Columbia, which places the following restrictions for the number of persons allowed to occupy a unit:
Efficiency/Studio -Up to 2 persons total
One (1) Bedroom -Up to 3 persons total
Two (2) Bedroom - Up to 5 persons total
Three (3) Bedroom - Up to seven 7 persons total
RENTERS’ INSURANCE
A renters’ insurance policy must be obtained prior to occupancy and shall contain contents and liability coverage and name Landlord as additional insured. You must provide us with a copy of the Certificate of Insurance prior to receiving your keys, and this renters' insurance policy must be kept in force for the entire term of the lease, including any renewals, holdovers, and extensions (including month-to-month tenancy).
This is a no-pet community.