Landlords Have Rights

In response to “Tenant-Screening Firm Accused of Circumventing Law,” by Richard Lee Colvin in the Feb. 17 Valley Edition:

I firmly believe in protecting the rights of potential tenants, but not at the expense of the rights of the landlords.

I would like David Pallack, “an attorney with San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services,” to explain the meaning of “Commercial Speech,” which supposedly does not enjoy the same broad protections as other types of expression.

Rather than disallowing pending or dismissed eviction actions taken against potential tenants, we should require these screening firms to expound on such information as to the reason for the action and the reasons for its dismissal. That way, if the tenant was in the right, the potential landlord will be supplied with that information as well, and be able to make an educated decision.

If the prospective tenant is a person who habitually fails to pay his rent, but stays one step ahead of the law by leaving before the matter goes to court, the prospective landlord has the right to know that information, so he doesn’t incur the same loss as the previous landlords.

AB 1796, the bill that limits the use of such information, is a giant step backward.

I can’t see anything wrong with running a profitable business. Why are our politicians continually trying to tie America’s hands?

TERRY LYONS, Sherman Oaks