Tenant screening checklist: what to collect, verify and record for each applicant

Tenant screening is the check a landlord or property manager runs on a rental applicant before offering a lease. It has two halves: papers the applicant hands over, such as ID and pay records, and reports the landlord pulls from outside sources, such as credit and eviction records.

The second half is regulated. A screening company’s report is a consumer report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the FTC enforces how landlords get and use it (FTC, Using Consumer Reports: What Landlords Need to Know). Federal fair housing law sets the limits on what your criteria may weigh (42 U.S.C. 3604, Fair Housing Act).

A checklist keeps both halves the same for every applicant. That consistency is what lets you explain a decision later, line by line.

The landlord or property manager writes the criteria and keeps the checklist, one copy per applicant. Applicants supply their documents and sign the consent. A tenant screening company supplies the credit, eviction and background reports, and past landlords and employers answer the reference calls.

1. Write your screening criteria and post them with the listing, before the first application arrives.
2. Send each applicant the document list and the consent form for the reports.
3. Open one checklist per adult and tick each item as it arrives or as you run it.
4. Record the outcome against your written criteria, with the date and the notice you sent.
5. Store the file securely, and destroy the reports in a secure way when you no longer need them.

• Criteria that change from one applicant to the next, or that exist only in the manager’s head.
• Calling the employer or landlord on a number the applicant wrote down, without checking it.
• Denying someone, or asking for a co-signer, because of a report and sending no adverse action notice.
• A rule that rejects anyone with any criminal record, whatever the offense or its date.
• Keeping copies of reports in an open shared folder after the decision.

Screening criteria are the written rules you apply to every applicant for a unit. Write them down once, date them, and use the same version until you revise it for everyone.

• Income: the ratio of income to rent, and whether a voucher or benefits count toward it.
• Credit: the minimum standard, and what you accept instead, such as a guarantor or a larger deposit where your state allows it.
• Rental history: the look-back you use for evictions and late payments.
• Occupancy limits, pet rules and any assistance animal process.
• Criminal history: only if state and local law allow it, and tied to the nature and age of the offense.

Work down the list for each adult who will live in the unit. The last column shows what the law or your own policy asks of that line.

Documents tell you what the applicant says. Verification tells you whether it holds. The rental application requirements page lists what applicants bring, and the proof of income guide covers each income paper.

1. Compare the name and address on each paper with the application and the ID.
2. Match the net pay on the pay records with the deposits on the bank statements.
3. Look up the employer’s main number yourself and confirm the job, start date and pay.
4. Ask the current and previous landlord the same questions: dates, rent, late payments, notice given, and whether they would rent again.
5. Write each answer, the name of the person you spoke to and the date on the checklist.

Screening reports have built-in age limits. Subject to the statute’s exceptions, bankruptcies older than 10 years and collections older than seven years may not appear on a consumer report (15 U.S.C. 1681c, Information excluded from consumer reports). Civil judgments and arrest records drop off after seven years, or after the statute of limitations if that is longer (15 U.S.C. 1681c, Information excluded from consumer reports). Convictions are not part of that time limit (15 U.S.C. 1681c, Information excluded from consumer reports).

That does not mean every conviction is fair to use. The FTC warns that a blanket policy of refusing anyone with a criminal record may violate the Fair Housing Act (FTC, Using Consumer Reports: What Landlords Need to Know). Many states and cities go further, for example by limiting when you may ask, so check local rules before you add this line.

No criterion may turn on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin (42 U.S.C. 3604, Fair Housing Act). That covers the questions on your form and the ads you run, not just the final decision (42 U.S.C. 3604, Fair Housing Act).

A reasonable accommodation is a change to a rule or practice that a person with a disability needs for an equal chance to use the home, and refusing one can be discrimination (42 U.S.C. 3604, Fair Housing Act). A no-pets rule waived for an assistance animal is the usual example, so keep a written process for these requests.

State and local law often adds protected groups, such as source of income or age. Add your state’s list to the criteria page so every screener sees it.

The FTC treats a denial, a co-signer demand, a larger deposit or higher rent based on a report as an adverse action (FTC, Using Consumer Reports: What Landlords Need to Know). The notice must name the reporting company with its address and phone, say that company did not make the decision, and explain the right to a free report and to dispute errors (15 U.S.C. 1681m, Requirements on users of consumer reports). The FTC states the free-report window as 60 days (FTC, Using Consumer Reports: What Landlords Need to Know).

If you used a credit score, the notice must also disclose the score (15 U.S.C. 1681m, Requirements on users of consumer reports). When you are done with a report, dispose of it securely, for example by shredding paper copies (FTC, Using Consumer Reports: What Landlords Need to Know). The letter below covers each required line.

• 42 U.S.C. 3604, Fair Housing Act: It is unlawful to refuse to rent, or to set different terms, because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.
• 15 U.S.C. 1681b, Permissible purposes of consumer reports: A consumer report may be furnished to a person with a legitimate business need for it in connection with a business transaction initiated by the consumer.
• 15 U.S.C. 1681c, Information excluded from consumer reports: Subject to the statute’s exceptions, consumer reports may not include bankruptcies older than 10 years, civil judgments and arrest records older than seven years or the governing statute of limitations (whichever is longer), or collections and most other adverse items older than seven years; convictions are not time-limited.
• 15 U.S.C. 1681m, Requirements on users of consumer reports: A person taking adverse action based in whole or in part on a consumer report must give notice, disclose any numerical credit score used, give the reporting agency’s contact details and a statement that the agency did not make the decision, and give notice of the right to a free report and to dispute it.
• FTC, Using Consumer Reports: What Landlords Need to Know: Landlords may get consumer reports on rental applicants; denying an application, requiring a co-signer or a larger deposit are adverse actions that call for a notice with the free-report right within 60 days.