Tenant Screening Checklist and Rental Application

What this is for

Small landlords tend to screen by instinct: a nice phone call, a tidy car, a good feeling at the showing. The trouble is that instinct is inconsistent, and inconsistency is exactly what a fair housing complaint looks for. If one applicant was asked for three pay stubs and the next was waved through, you have a problem even if you meant nothing by it. Running every applicant through the same written steps, and writing down why you decided what you decided, is the simplest protection there is.

The screening checklist is one page per applicant, with fields for the applicant, the property and the date received. It is split into three stages. Before you advertise: write down your criteria, check the listing wording, decide on any application fee. For every applicant: same form, written permission before ordering reports, ID seen, income checked, landlords called, criminal history screening done within your rules. Deciding: decision made against the written criteria with the reason recorded, adverse action notice sent when a report played a part, accommodation requests considered, everything filed together. A rules box at the top names the two federal rules that apply to every rental: the Fair Housing Act and the FCRA adverse action notice.

The rental application behind it is two pages: the property and move-in date, the applicant’s details, current and previous addresses with landlord contacts, work and income, who will live there, pets and vehicles, references, and a signed permission to check credit, rental history and references. It asks for the total number of occupants, on purpose, and not the ages of children or anything about family makeup, because familial status is a protected class. Both files come as a Letter-size PDF and as an editable Word document, so you can add your name and adjust fields. This is a practical checklist, not legal advice; state and local fair housing laws often go further than federal law.

How to fill it in

1. Before you list the unit, fill in the "Before you advertise" section once. Write your screening criteria on paper: minimum income (for example, a multiple of the rent), rental history, credit and references. Whatever you choose, it has to be the same standard for everyone.
2. Check your listing against the federal advertising rule: no statement that indicates a preference or limitation based on a protected class. Describe the unit (two bedrooms, second floor, no elevator, near the bus line), not the tenant you imagine living there. Look up whether your state or city limits application fees before you set one.
3. When someone applies, start a new checklist. Fill in Applicant, Property and Date received, and give every adult who will live there their own copy of the rental application.
4. Get the signed permission on the last page of the application before you order any credit, eviction or background report. Tick the box.
5. Work down "For every applicant" in order: ID seen and the name matches, income checked against your written criteria using pay stubs, an offer letter or bank statements, and current and previous landlords contacted. Ask the landlords the same questions every time: was rent on time, was notice given, would you rent to them again.
6. If you screen for criminal history, do it within your state and local rules and HUD guidance, and apply it the same way to every applicant. Some cities restrict when or whether you may ask.
7. Decide against your written criteria, and write the reason on the back of the checklist in plain words: "income below 3x rent, no co-signer offered". If a screening report played any part in denying the application, requiring a co-signer or asking for a larger deposit or higher rent, send an adverse action notice.
8. If an applicant asks for a reasonable accommodation, such as an assistance animal in a no-pets building, consider it and respond; don’t refuse it out of hand. File the application, any reports and the checklist together, and keep them secure.

A filled-in example

Common mistakes

• Asking about children, ages, pregnancy or marriage plans. Familial status is protected under the Fair Housing Act. The application asks how many people will live there, and that is all you need for occupancy.
• Changing the criteria halfway through. If you relax the income requirement for one applicant, you have to be able to explain why and do the same for the next. Write the criteria down before the first showing and stick to them.
• Skipping the adverse action notice because you "didn’t really rely" on the report. If a consumer report was part of the reason you denied, asked for a co-signer, charged more or asked for a bigger deposit, the notice is required.
• Treating an assistance animal request like a pet request. Refusing a reasonable accommodation that a person with a disability needs is discrimination under the Fair Housing Act, whatever the no-pets clause says.
• Deciding and forgetting. Months later, you will not remember why the other applicant was turned down. A two-line reason on the back of the checklist, filed with the application, is your answer if anyone asks.