Tenant Screening

How to Screen Your Applicants

It’s not enough to simply put up an ad for an available lease and see who applies. At Joseph Thomas Property Management, we make sure our clients have a strategy in place to find good applicants, verify important details about them, and establish clear expectations for leasing.

Create a Good Application

The first screening tool used to weed out potential tenants that don’t fit what you are looking for is the rental application. Property owners have flexibility in how they choose to structure their application and the questions that are included. Of course, there are anti-discrimination laws and occasional local regulations that must be followed.

Background Check / Criminal History

Sometimes, the application doesn’t capture all the details you would want. We recommend conducting background checks on applicants to determine whether a criminal history might disqualify an applicant from being a desirable tenant.

The existence of any criminal history doesn’t necessarily need to exclude an applicant automatically, but knowing these details will help you make an informed and careful decision. What will you do if your tenant goes to jail?

Screen Based On Income

A good tenant is a tenant that you can rely on to pay rent. It’s a good idea to also screen tenants based on their income.

Of course, just because an applicant has lots of money in their bank account doesn’t mean they will definitely keep up with the rent. But an applicant that can verify steady income is a safer bet than an applicant who cannot.

Screen Based On Credit History

Credit history is another layer of tenant screening that many of our Utah property owner clients find valuable. Credit history is an imperfect measurement that doesn’t tell the complete story, but it is another screening tool in your belt that will help you make a smart decision on whether or not to offer a lease.

Screen For Past Evictions

Has the applicant ever been evicted before? If they have, you’ll want to gather some details as to why. A past eviction doesn’t mean it will definitely happen again, but you’d feel pretty foolish (and frustrated) if you signed a tenant with a history of evictions and then experienced the same problems with them yourself.

Landlord and Employment References

It’s always helpful to gather any references available from previous landlords or employers. These people will generally provide honest insight into applicants as a person to help you better understand how your potential landlord-tenant relationship might go.

Ask Good Questions

Your rental applicants can really only provide valuable information on their application to the degree that you ask for it. So, ask good questions! Screen your tenants with questions that get to the point of what you want to know.