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Most first-time landlords put more thought into picking a paint color than choosing their tenant. Between the listing, the photos, and the showings, it’s easy to lose track of time preparing a unit and then scrambling at the last minute to find a responsible tenant to move in. Tenant screening helps ensure you find the right person fast.
Skip screening, and you might end up with a tenant who stops paying rent in their third month, damages the unit, or breaks the lease without warning. Screen consistently, and you improve your odds of finding someone who pays on time, treats the property well, and stays for the full term (or, better yet, renews for another term).
So how do you build a screening process that holds up every time?
Start with your written criteria, end with a signed lease, and use this guide to work through everything in between.
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What is tenant screening?
Tenant screening is the process landlords use to evaluate rental applicants before signing a lease. A credit report, background check, and eviction history are the standard components that give you a documented, defensible basis for your decision.
That legal basis matters more than most people realize. If a rejected applicant ever claims you discriminated against them, your written screening record will protect you in court.
Before You Screen: Set Written Rental Criteria
Before you accept a single application, put your screening standards in writing. Many first-time landlords skip this step, and doing so can cause problems down the road.
Written criteria help keep your decisions consistent. If you deny Applicant A for their 580 credit score, then Applicant B, with a 570, should be denied too (not approved because they seemed more personable on the phone).
Common criteria include a minimum income threshold (most landlords use 2.5 to 3 times the monthly rent), a minimum credit score, rental history requirements, and pet and occupancy policies. Always write your criteria down before the first application hits your inbox.
Many states and cities restrict how landlords can use certain information. For instance, California prohibits landlords from considering arrests that did not result in a conviction, and New York City requires landlords to accept Section 8 vouchers as a valid source of income. Research your local laws before you finalize your criteria, or run them by a local attorney if you want extra assurance.
Fair Housing Laws and Tenant Screenings
Federal Fair Housing laws prohibit rejecting applicants based on:
- Race,
- Color,
- Religion,
- Sex,
- National origin,
- Disability, or
- Familial status.
And many states and cities extend those protections to sexual orientation, gender identity, source of income, and more.
Ask every applicant the same questions, apply the same criteria to every decision, and document every step of the process. Fair Housing violations don’t require intent, and a landlord who approves one applicant on instinct while denying a similarly qualified one can still face a legal complaint.
If anyone helps you with tenant selection, train them on these rules, too. As the landlord, the Fair Housing Act places direct and vicarious liability for any housing decisions made on your behalf directly on you.
How to Screen Tenants, Step by Step
Follow the same steps in the same order at the start of every new lease, because consistency is your best legal protection.
1. Pre-Screen Applicants Before Showings
Running a full screening on every inquiry wastes time. Pre-screening filters out obvious mismatches before you spend an hour showing the unit.
Send a short questionnaire to anyone who reaches out. Ask about move-in date, household size, pets, and smoking preferences. Confirm that they’ve reviewed the rent, deposit, and lease terms. You can also ask applicants to self-report income so you can spot unqualified applicants before investing more time.
Don’t ask anything that touches a protected characteristic. “Are you planning to start a family?” sounds casual, but under Fair Housing law, it crosses a clear legal line. Keep every question focused on the rental itself.
2. Require a Rental Application from Every Adult
Every adult moving in should fill out their own application, even if they’re from the same household. A co-signer who skips the application leaves you with nothing to verify when it matters most.
At minimum, collect:
- Full legal name and contact information: For identity verification and running checks
- Current and previous addresses: Shows stability and gives you landlords to call
- Employment and income information: The starting point for verification
- Rental history: Look for gaps or patterns worth following up on
- Landlord and employer references: For direct follow-up
- Consent for credit, background, and eviction checks: Required before you can run anything
- Disclosure of pets, vehicles, and household size: Confirms fit against your criteria
Pro tip: Online rental applications can collect all of this digitally, so you’re not chasing down emailed PDFs or fumbling around with paper forms.
3. Run Credit, Background, and Eviction Checks
The following three reports each cover a different angle on the same applicant. Understanding what each one reveals helps you paint a full picture before making a decision.
Credit report: The credit report shows how an applicant handles recurring financial obligations, which is the best predictor of whether they’ll pay rent on time.
But the score alone doesn’t tell the whole story. A 680 score with consistent on-time payments might be more reliable than a 720 score built on one credit card with no rental history. When analyzing a credit report, look at payment history, collections, and debt load. Most landlords stop at the number, but the pattern of behavior tells a clearer story.
Background check: Criminal history relevant to housing safety or property integrity, and local laws govern how you can use a background check.
Some jurisdictions limit what you can consider. California, for instance, prohibits weighing arrests that didn’t result in a conviction, and several cities require landlords to evaluate each record individually rather than apply a blanket ban. Focus on offenses directly relevant to housing, like property damage, fraud, and violent offenses.
Eviction history: Eviction records reveal whether conflicts with a previous landlord ever escalated to court, though context matters. Two evictions in the past 3 years are very different from a single eviction 9 years ago due to hardship.
Some states also restrict which records are reportable. Washington, for example, allows tenants to petition to seal certain eviction records, so they may not appear in a standard screening report. Know what’s allowed before you act on what you find.
4. Verify Income and Employment
Applicants can write anything they want on a rental application, so the burden of verifying what they report falls entirely on you.
To verify income and employment, ask for pay stubs from the last 2 to 3 months, a recent W-2, an offer letter, or bank statements showing consistent deposits. (Self-employed applicants can provide tax returns or 1099s.) One month of pay stubs tells you almost nothing about income stability, whereas 3 months give you a solid view of their earnings.
The standard benchmark is gross monthly income of at least 3 times the rent. A $1,500 rental unit means you’re looking for at least $4,500 a month of income (before taxes). Be mindful that many states, like Colorado, don’t allow landlords to use the 3x metric, and instead allow landlords to accept 2x the rent.
Additionally, a significant number of jurisdictions prohibit income source discrimination, meaning you can’t reject someone because their income comes from a housing voucher, disability benefits, or child support rather than a W-2. Stable, consistent income is what you’re evaluating.
Digital verification: TurboTenant includes income verification tools in its Pro tier so you can verify an applicant’s reported income without having to track down documents manually.
5. Contact Previous Landlords and References
Reference checks take just a few minutes and can surface behavioral patterns that no official record would ever capture. But you have to make sure the reference is real.
Some applicants list friends or family as landlord references. Cross-reference the contact name against public property records for the address on the application. If the “previous landlord” turns out to be a roommate or a relative, treat the false information as a red flag and weigh the application accordingly.
And when you call a previous landlord, ask whether the tenant paid on time, left the property in good condition, gave proper notice before moving out, broke any lease terms, and whether they’d rent to that person again. That last question matters most, because a hesitant “maybe” tells you more than a confident “absolutely.”
6. Compare Applicants Using the Same Criteria
Pull out your written criteria and evaluate every complete application against it in the same order, every time. Avoid skipping ahead or picking a favorite on instinct and working backward to justify the choice, since that’s exactly how landlords end up with Fair Housing complaints in the first place.
Then, set aside incomplete applications before you start comparing. An applicant who didn’t consent to a background check or left sections blank has already signaled how they’ll handle other responsibilities down the line.
If two applicants meet your standards, use the application timestamp as a neutral tiebreaker. Then write down your reasoning before moving forward. “She seemed like a good fit” won’t hold up against a rejected application or a discrimination claim. “Applicant met all written criteria: gross monthly income of $5,200 (3.47x rent), credit score of 712, no eviction history, positive landlord reference” will.
How to Approve a Tenant and Move to Lease Signing
Notify the approved applicant in writing and confirm the rent, security deposit, lease start date, and any additional fees so there are no surprises when it’s time to sign the contract.
From there, prepare a lease that complies with your state’s landlord-tenant laws and includes all required disclosures. Sign it, send it for e-signature, and store everything securely, including the signed lease, screening records, and your communication history. That (digital) paper trail is what will protect you if something goes wrong later.
Free tool: TurboTenant can handle the full rental workflow from application to signed lease, with state-specific lease templates and built-in cloud document storage.
How to Deny an Applicant (Legally)
If you decide not to rent to an applicant, send a written denial even when your local laws don’t require one, and explicitly state the exact reason for the rejection. “You did not meet our minimum income requirement of 3 times the monthly rent” is a defensible reason. “We went with someone who was a better fit” is far shakier ground.
If you base the denial on a consumer report (credit, background, or eviction screening), the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires you to issue the rejected tenant an adverse action notice. Doing so means providing the reporting agency’s name and contact information, a statement that the agency didn’t make the final decision, and notice of the applicant’s right to request a free copy of the report and dispute any errors.
Vague denials invite Fair Housing complaints, while specific ones tied to your documented criteria give you something defensible to stand behind.
Find the Right Tenant from the Start
Tenant screening doesn’t need to be complicated, but it does need to be consistent. Set your criteria before the first application comes in, run the same process every time, and document your reasoning every step of the way.
TurboTenant makes the whole landlord workflow easier to manage in one place. With our landlord software, you get rental applications, screening reports, income verification, lease agreements, and document storage, all without the steep overhead of a brick-and-mortar property management company.
Sign up for a free TurboTenant account today to build a screening process that protects your property and your time.
How to Screen Tenants FAQs
Can I charge applicants a screening fee?
Yes, and in most states, this is both permitted and fairly common practice. Many landlords charge a fee (typically $25 to $75) to cover the cost of credit and background checks. Some states cap the amount or require you to itemize how the money was spent. California, for instance, limits screening fees and requires landlords to provide an itemized receipt. Always check your local laws.
What if an applicant has no rental history?
Many qualified applicants, especially younger renters, have no rental history. For them, focus on employment stability, income documentation, and references from employers or professors instead. If your local laws allow it, you can also require a co-signer or a larger security deposit to offset the added risk.
Can I use social media to research applicants?
Technically, yes, but most attorneys advise against it. Social media profiles can reveal protected characteristics (religion, race, familial status, disability) that you’re legally prohibited from factoring into a housing decision. If you deny someone after viewing their profile and they later allege the decision was influenced by what you saw, disproving that claim can be tricky. Stick to your documented screening process.
How long do I need to keep tenant screening records?
To be safe, hold onto records for at least 3 years after a tenancy ends. Though most states don’t require you to retain screening documentation, a rejected applicant can file a civil Fair Housing complaint up to 2 years after a denial, and your records are the only proof that you applied your criteria effectively.
Do landlords check eviction records when screening renters?
Yes, landlords commonly check eviction records when screening potential tenants. They often use tenant screening services, check public records, and contact previous landlords to determine whether a tenant has been evicted in the past.
Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only and is published by TurboTenant. It is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Laws and regulations for landlords vary by state and locality and may change over time. Always consult a qualified attorney, accountant, or local housing authority before making decisions related to your rental property. The publisher and authors assume no responsibility for actions taken based on the information provided.
