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Zillow Rentals: Zillow Group adds income restriction feature to rental listings

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With the rental market becoming increasingly competitive, Zillow Group announced today that rental property listings on its Zillow Rentals websites will reflect whether the property has any income restrictions.

The feature, unveiled today at the first annual Zillow Group Multifamily Forum in New Orleans, is already a function on Trulia, which allows potential renters to filter listings by income restrictions. Zillow Group said the function will now be rolled out on its Zillow Rentals and HotPads websites, as well as their corresponding mobile apps, by the first half of 2016.

“By clearly prompting the renter to acknowledge an income range before he or she submits their information to the property manager, it will reduce the amount of unqualified inquires.” – Greg Schwartz, Zillow Group’s chief business officer

When a renter submits his information to a property manager, he will be asked if his income meets the standard required to rent the property if it has an income restriction attached to it.

Greg Schwartz, chief business officer at Zillow Group, said the feature is intended to make the rental process more seamless for everyone.

“When these income-restricted units are coming onto the market, property managers are often being flooded with inquiries, but not all of them are eligible to rent the unit,” Schwartz said.

“By clearly prompting the renter to acknowledge an income range before he or she submits their information to the property manager, it will reduce the amount of unqualified inquires. Property managers will be able to respond to potential residents more quickly.”

Email Amy Swinderman.