Tenant screening is a process of checking whether a prospective tenant meets your standards and qualifications for living in your rental property. Investigating a potential tenant’s background allows you to understand their financial habits/behaviors as well as any patterns of lease violations in previous rental units. This sheds light on potential risks you may take by approving a tenant to live in your unit and gives you the opportunity to make informed decisions about tenants before they move in.

Tenant screening usually involves asking tenant screening questions and pulling formal records related to credit, criminal, and eviction history, which gives you foresight into how tenants may behave in your properties. Some tenant screening services compile this information into a concise report.

One important thing to note about tenant screening reports is that they are usually regulated by fair housing laws. In addition to the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of seven protected classes (race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability), individual states often add their own protections that apply when screening tenants or contacting previous landlords to fill your rental properties. Before you begin or view a tenant screening report, be sure you're aware of these laws.

The benefits of tenant screening are endless, but there are several key reasons why it’s an important step in filling your units. For one, thorough screening can help you find long-term renters who will renew their leases, offering you a steady flow of income. This means less time spent advertising your units and reading through tenant applications, and more time spent focusing on other important landlord responsibilities.

Additionally, taking the time to screen tenants can result in less damage to your properties. By pinpointing risky applicants who exhibit red-flag behavior early on, you can minimize the replacement and repair costs of fixing damaged flooring, walls, and furniture on your property.

Finally, and most importantly, utilizing tenant screening helps you bring in tenants who will pay their rent on time and in full each month. Rent is the basis of your business — without it, you cannot properly manage your units. But if a tenant has a history of reliable rent payments in other rental units, they’re more likely to be trustworthy with rent payments while living on your property, too.

So, what are the steps for screening potential tenants? There are three major components to tenant screening that you should be sure to look over and compare to your standards for qualified tenants, which we’ll further discuss below.

The first step to bringing in new tenants is requiring a rental application form. This form is a simple way of learning vital information from prospective tenants to ensure they meet your standards before they move further into the rental process. Typically, a rental application will include contact information, current and prior residence information, landlord and employer references, employment history, written permission to run a credit check, and legal disclosures. If you think of any other relevant information that should be included based on your renter requirements, feel free to add it to your rental application form.

Some potential tenants won’t want to fill out a rental application, but if they’re unwilling to share this information with you, they may not be a good fit for your unit anyway. Still, you should aim to keep your rental applications simple and accessible to reach a wider pool of tenants, so it’s a good idea to offer digital applications that you can store and reference later along with the lease agreement.

Next, you’ll want to verify that a tenant is making enough money to afford the rent price for your unit. The easiest way to do this is to request that the tenant share proof of income documents with you. Common options for proof of income include pay stubs, bank statements, and W-2 forms, but many other diverse options are available such as an unemployment statement or letter from an employer.

Verifying a tenant’s income is important because it confirms that a tenant is earning reliable, consistent money from a job that is sufficient for the rent price you’ve set for your units. It’s standard for sufficient income to be three times the monthly rent amount. By ensuring a tenant can pay rent each month, you guarantee your own monthly income from your rental units.

Finally, you’ll want to run a series of checks for background, credit, and eviction history. Credit and background checks provide you with information on a tenant’s criminal background, their handling of money, and any prior evictions they’ve had in other properties so you can make well-informed decisions on whether a renter is suitable for your unit.

A criminal background check involves checking a tenant’s criminal records to protect you from approving a tenant who may be involved in violence and illegal activities.

A tenant screening credit check involves looking at a tenant's credit report to see how they manage their finances and whether they’ll be reliable in their payments to you. You can check a renter’s credit score, activity with credit cards and banks, and fraud indicators.

An eviction history checks a tenant’s background with evictions, like when, where, and why they occurred. You should always check with the tenant and with prior landlords to ask further questions about evictions.

Tenant screening is a crucial responsibility for landlords and property managers and can greatly improve the quality of your renters. By filtering out risky applicants, you can breathe easier knowing that safe, reliable, and considerate tenants occupy your units.

The above three components are the main steps involved in screening, but note that many landlords reach out to current and previous landlords or employers to get a fuller rental history and employment verification.

For more insight on the specific steps and tools you should utilize when screening new tenants, download Innago’s free Tenant Screening eBook at the top of this page.