Market widely, set your criteria in writing before the first showing, and apply them the same way to every applicant.
Finding residents
- List everywhere at once: Facebook Marketplace, Zillow Rental Manager (it also posts to Trulia and HotPads), Apartments.com, and a yard sign
- Write a strong listing: 15+ bright photos, rent, deposit, available date, pet policy, and your minimum requirements
- Allow pets: it makes your applicant pool much bigger. Charge a pet deposit or monthly pet rent where it's legal. Service and assistance animals aren't pets and can't be charged pet fees
- Pre-screen before showing: ask the pre-screen questions below by text, phone or a short form
- Group showings: book applicants into one 30–60 minute window instead of separate appointments
- Price it right: if you have no qualified applicants after 10–14 days, the rent is probably too high
Pre-screen questions
Ask these before you schedule a showing. If someone answers "no" to the income question or "yes" to any of the others, you've saved yourself a showing.
- Is your household's combined gross monthly income at least 3× the rent?
- Have you ever been evicted?
- Do you have any housing court judgments or money owed to a past landlord?
- Do you have any felony convictions? Ask only where your state and city allow it. Some places ban the question until after a conditional offer, or limit how far back you can look
- When do you want to move in, how many people will live there, and what pets do you have?
Screening criteria
Write these down and share them with every applicant before they apply.
| Criteria | Standard |
|---|---|
| Income | Gross monthly income of at least 3× the rent, verified with pay stubs, an offer letter or bank statements |
| Rental history | No previous evictions, and good references from past landlords |
| Credit | No housing court judgments or unpaid landlord debt. These matter more than the score itself |
| Criminal history | No felony convictions, where your state and city allow you to consider them |
| Pets | Allowed, with a pet deposit or pet rent |
| Occupancy | Typically 2 people per bedroom plus 1, unless local code says otherwise |
Use the same criteria for every applicant. Fair housing laws ban discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or familial status, and many states add more. Check your local rules on application fees and source-of-income protections.
Screening steps
- Application: every adult (18+) fills out an application and gives written consent for credit and background checks
- Credit, background and eviction report: run through a screening service such as TransUnion SmartMove, RentPrep or your listing site; the applicant usually pays
- Verify income: match pay stubs to the employer, and call the employer using a number you look up yourself
- Call past landlords: ask whether they paid on time, gave notice, left the unit in good shape, and whether the landlord would rent to them again
- Decide and notify: approve the first applicant who meets all your criteria, and send an adverse action notice to anyone you deny based on their report
- Collect funds and sign: get the deposit and first month's rent in certified funds or an electronic payment before you hand over keys
- Move-in inspection: walk the unit together and take dated photos of its condition
Red flags
- Pushing to move in immediately or skip the screening
- Offering several months of rent in cash up front
- Gaps in rental history, or a "landlord" reference that turns out to be a friend or relative
- Pay stubs that look edited, or an employer that can't be verified
- Unwilling to let you contact a previous landlord
- Details that change between the pre-screen, the showing and the application