I read a newspaper article today where a small town in Nebraska has made it illegal to rent property to "illegal immigrants".
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/06/22/small-nebraska-town-throws-itself-into-immigration-fight/

My first thought after reading this is that is a violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/FHLaws/yourrights.cfm

I guess the $64,000 question is if those laws only pertain to U.S. citizens or for everyone? I have a feeling the courts will decide this one eventually.

I didn't find it in the act where it says it's illegal. Without a SS#/ITIN, how is a landlord to check financials and background etc.? That's not discimination.

I don't believe that the act lists illegal immigrants as a protected class.

I don't see how a landlord is supposed to ascertain whether a potential tenant is legally in this country. I am a legal immigrant and did not have a SSN for the first few months of living in the US.

Furthermore, there are no other restrictions that I am aware of anywhere in the world for renting a house to a non-resident. There are many such non-residents who spend up to 3 months in the US at a time under the visa-waiver program and in many cases longer on non-residency visas.

Illegal immigrants are not a protected class...but their ethnicity certainly is...which is the card that would be played should someone decide to make a stink.

LL's need to collect ID and they can't have separate rules - like a requiring a certain type of ID for one person and not require any ID for another renter. That's how you get around that.

What is the ethincity of an illegal alien? I know we all assume that this means our good friends from south of the border, but it could also meany anyone else not from the US.
Lot of people overstay their visa, which basically makes them illegal.

As long as the basis for denial is creditworthyness, that's not discrimination. If you can't verify a potential tenants legal employment or credit, that should be a red flag.
How about asking to see a bank statement, being that one must have ID to open up an US account?

We run prosepctive tenants through a network at their expense(around $20/adult) and it requires a ssn#. It includes a credit check, and cross check for landlord complaints and they also check the provided references and report back; the service even checks for court actions against an individual (additional cost applies); If tenant does not agree to and pay for the screening, the application is terminated.

If something pops up on the standard check, the landlord reserves the right to opt for the additional criminal check for the additional fee (not sure how much it is).