Tips for Screening Tenants

Screening tenants is important to ensure that your tenant will pay their rent on time and take care of the rental unit. Screening tenants takes time, and as a landlord, you don't want your unit sitting vacant. However, screening potential tenants is a critical aspect in the leasing process. Lead qualification will help you weed out poor tenants, leaving you with responsible, long-term renters at your property. Following are several steps to help you screen potential tenants:

Step 1: Prequalify tenants over the phone

When you receive a call or an email about your unit, you will want to interview them over the phone first. You don’t want to waste your time on people who aren’t serious or aren’t qualified for your property.

Frame your questions carefully

To avoid untruthful information, be careful about the way you ask your questions. If you say, “This unit only fits two people. How many people will be living here?” it tells them exactly what you’re looking for, giving them the opportunity to be dishonest. Instead, ask, “How many people are looking to move with you?” to get them to disclose their information first.

Not qualified for this property?

Wait! If a prospective renter doesn’t fit the property they’ve inquired about, you may have a unit later on that will be a better fit. Add every prospective tenant to a spreadsheet so you can track the progress of each rental application and compare qualifications. If you have more than a handful of rental properties, you will need a lead tracking system to stay organized and match prospective tenants to available properties that fit their needs.

Invite prescreened renters to the showing

After filling out the prequalification sheet for everyone who’s expressed interest, you should be left with the most serious prospects. Invite them to take a tour of the apartment or rental property.

Step 2: Show the property

Don’t skip this step. No matter how perfect prospective tenants sound during the prequalification, it’s always important to meet your renter. After your renter signs the lease, you’ll have many interactions with them during their tenancy, so it’s crucial to get a feel for their personality. A good landlord-tenant relationship can go a long way toward reducing problems at your rental property.

Add social pressure

Rather than invite prospective tenants to individual showings, host a rental open house. Attendees will realize that that they’re competing for the unit, which in turn will increase their interest and create a sense of urgency to move through the application process faster than the other prospects.

Keep track of these attendees in your spreadsheet.

Step 3: Accept and analyze applications

While you may have a good — or bad —feeling about an applicant, going with your gut instinct won’t protect you in court if you’re facing discrimination accusations or evicting a tenant. Require all interested renters to fill out a rental application for your records. Look no further: Download this free, customizable rental application form!

Use the same criteria for all applicants

To avoid fair housing violations, remain objective and use the same application and requirements when screening renters. This will allow you to fairly compare prospective tenants and choose the best one based on hard facts.

Keep a paper trail

The applicant’s paperwork can help protect you against discrimination complaints. Although it is ultimately your choice as the landlord to decide who lives at your property, tenant selection must stay within the guidelines mandated by the federal Fair Housing Act. Also check your local and state discrimination laws for additional regulations. To minimize the risk of a fair housing violation, treat each applicant equally and hold on to the paperwork for at least two years. If you face a fair housing charge, your documentation can help support your case.

Check applications for disqualifying factors

Carefully read all the applications and check for any obvious disqualifying factors or inconsistencies. For example, if the applicant is currently unemployed and has no other income sources, that’s a red flag and you may want to follow up with the applicant for more information.

Be wary of false information

It’s not a criminal offense to lie on a rental application form. Some people give false information because they think landlords won’t double-check. Don’t assume application information is accurate until you’ve run credit and reference checks.

Step 4: Perform reference checks

Even though a rental application looks great, don’t stop your tenant screening process there. Dishonest people can still slip through the cracks during the application and prescreening process. Checking references will give you a more complete picture of your tenant’s financial and rental history.

Carefully construct questions

Companies have various regulations on how much information they’re able to disclose about their employees, so just use employer phone calls to verify information on the application. For example, instead of asking, “How much does Thomas Baker earn?” ask, “Thomas Baker stated in his application that he earns $4,550 per month. Is this correct?” You’ll increase the likelihood of getting a response if it’s a yes or no question.

Be wary of impersonators

Landlords and employers can easily be impersonated. Carefully word your questions to make it possible to catch fakers off-guard. For example, don’t tell them what their role is by saying, “Hi, I’m a landlord doing reference checks on Thomas Baker and he listed you as his landlord. How was he as a tenant?” This will tell the person answering the phone that they’re supposed to be a previous landlord. Instead, ask questions such as, “Hi, I’m a landlord doing reference checks on Thomas Baker. How do you know him?” If you hear, “We met in college,” you’ll quickly detect a fraud.

Check for criminal and sex offender history

Unsurprisingly, landlords aren’t very keen on tenants with a conviction history or a record of sexual offense. While some credit checks will include criminal history, it may exclude certain convictions. Use a third-party site such as TransUnion’s SmartMove service to conduct a full criminal background check. Use a “Megan’s Law” database to see if the applicant is a convicted sex offender.

Step 5: Run a credit report

Honest applicants will be upfront about their poor financial history or bad credit, while other renters may try to avoid straight answers about their credit. Credit reports are an important part of tenant screening and can tell you a lot about a renter: payment history, bankruptcies and sometimes criminal convictions and previous evictions. Use these reports to backup the information applicants provide.

Perform a soft credit check

All three major credit rating agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) offer services that allow tenants to initiate a credit report that can be shared securely with a landlord. These soft checks will not ding a renter’s credit. By using TransUnion’s SmartMove or Experian Connect you can feel certain that the information is accurate. After you enter your information, all you need to obtain a credit report through these services is the applicant’s name and email address.

Analyze the report

Once you get the report back, look for any history of poor payment history or a low credit score. Credit scores will tell you if the applicant makes credit payments on time or owes money, and also indicates the length of their credit history and the types of credits used. If your tenant doesn’t pay his credit card bills, he might not pay his rent either. You can also see other important information on a credit report such as judgments and criminal convictions.

Get credentialed if you run reports often

To run a credit report yourself, you need to be credentialed to access sensitive information. Use a screening solutions company such as NTN Online to get started with obtaining your credentials. You may need a business license to prove that you are a professional in rentals.

Step 6: Make a decision

Review the prospective tenants’ applications, references and credit reports, and select your tenant. Once you do, it’s time to sign a lease or rental agreement. Work with a local legal professional to prepare a form of rental agreement that suits your needs and be sure to inform your new tenant of any important details regarding your property.

Lease or rental agreement signing

Congratulations! You have your next tenant.

Review all the rules and regulations of your property with your new tenant to make sure they have a clear understanding of them. If applicable, collect the security deposit and/or first month’s rent before signing the rental commitment. Have tenants sign two copies of the lease and give them one copy for their records. To make it easier, consider using a digital lease.

This Guide was written by Amie Fisher and is from Zillow.