A Landlord’s Guide to Tenant Screening

If you’re looking to find a great tenant, you’ve likely figured out by now that you need a thorough screening process to do the job. Maybe you’ve also figured out that screenings can be a bit, shall we say, complex… especially with the significant legal changes that have taken place over the past few years.

It's true that there’s a slight learning curve when it comes to vetting potential renters. The tenant screening process has changed dramatically recently, with new Fair Housing protections and increasingly strict background check regulations.

Plus, new AI-powered screening tools are completely changing how landlords and property managers evaluate prospective tenants.

So, how do you manage it all and keep your properties full of great, quality tenants?

That’s why we put together this guide – to help you understand each step of the tenant screening process so you can successfully land the perfect tenant. Plus, with the right tools of the trade (and a few upgrades to your tech stack), you can stay compliant and make sure you find tenants that are long-term.

As you might be anywhere in the tenant screening process, feel free to skip ahead as needed. We also recommend bookmarking this guide for future reference.

What’s In this Guide?

• The “What” and “Why” of Tenant Screening
• Updated 2025 Legal Requirements & Fair Housing Changes
• How to Screen Tenants Using Modern Tools
• Reading Background Checks and Credit Reports
• What to Ask References and Previous Landlords
• Declining an Applicant (with 2025 Compliance Requirements)
• Watch: How to Run Tenant Screening with TenantCloud
• Free Tenant Screening Checklist
• What to Look for in a Tenant Screening Service
• FAQs

The “What” and “Why” of Tenant Screening

Tenant screening is a process that provides the details a landlord or property manager needs to choose an eligible tenant for a rental.

If you’ve listed your property and have already received applications, you can start the process of screening applicants based on your rental criteria to see if they’re the best fit.

In 2025, having a straightforward tenant screening process can help you eliminate unqualified renters and even deter scammers, saving time and money in the long run.

Similar to the employment hiring process, the tenant screening process gives you a chance to find a tenant with the necessary skills needed to provide a positive rental experience.

A person who has a history of paying their rent on time, obeying laws, and holding a steady job will likely be more reliable compared to someone with a history of late notices and criminal charges.

The screening process has also become more and more sophisticated, with tenant screening services now offering AI-powered risk assessments and automated income verification. Many tools also include comprehensive tenant background checks that go beyond traditional credit scores.

But like any new technology, it's important to balance technology with fair housing compliance. Many states now require landlords to conduct individualized assessments rather than relying solely on automated tenant screening reports.

And while it may seem like a lot of work initially, know that having a solid screening process in place will make the whole thing more enjoyable and simpler to navigate.

Read similar: What is Tenant Screening? A Rental Application Guide for Landlords

Tenant Screening 101 – What Are The 2025 Legal Requirements?

Got an application or two for your rental? Yay! Now it’s time to conduct a screening to determine if they are the right candidate.

Before you start, make sure that you get to know the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Housing laws, as well as your local and state laws. These regulations have undergone significant updates in 2024-2025 that may impact your overall process.

Knowing these laws and their updates will help you remain compliant and protect you from legal repercussions. Enforcement actions have resulted in multi-million dollar settlements against property management companies using discriminatory screening algorithms – so you don’t want to risk shortcutting this process!

What Are Fair Housing Laws?

Fair housing laws are regulations made by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

These rules are designed to ensure that everyone can find a home to inhabit without being discriminated against. This means that you cannot decline any eligible applicant based on their race or color, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, familial status, or disability.

Here are some of the most recent 2025 Updates:

• Source of Income Protection: Discrimination based on housing vouchers or government assistance is now explicitly prohibited in most jurisdictions
• Criminal History Limits: Blanket bans on applicants with criminal records are prohibited—you must conduct individualized assessments
• Eviction History: Many states now restrict the use of eviction records, especially those without judgments or older than 3-5 years
• Lookback Periods: Criminal background checks typically cannot consider records older than 4-7 years

What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act?

When you apply for a credit card, purchase a mortgage, or rent an apartment, the companies taking your application will usually request a copy of your credit report from at least one of the three national credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian).

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires anyone using a consumer report, such as a lender, insurer, landlord, or employer, to have legal permission to obtain a report.

As a landlord or property manager, you’ll likely want to request a copy of your tenant’s credit report through the credit bureaus, so make sure you do the following:

1. Get written permission to obtain their credit report and background checks during the application process
2. Provide advance disclosure of your screening criteria and what reports you'll run
3. Issue adverse action notices if you deny an applicant based on information in their screening reports, including the name, address, and phone number of the reporting agency
4. Give applicants time to review and dispute inaccurate information (typically 5-7 business days in 2025)

How to Screen Tenants

While the process is getting increasingly regulated, overall it’s still fairly simple!

First, determine your rental criteria, then request a rental application, check their criminal and financial history, call their references, and then meet with them in person or over the phone. We’ll go over each step in more detail and provide helpful links for each step below.

1. Set Rental Criteria

It’s a good idea to decide ahead of time on your minimum requirements for your applicants.

Will you require specific income requirements? Is your rental smoking or non-smoking? Will you allow pets, and if so, what kind and how many? List all of your criteria – including these:

• Income requirements (typically 2.5-3x rent, but consider all income sources)
• Credit score ranges (though some states restrict the use of traditional credit scores)
• Acceptable rental history parameters
• Pet policies and restrictions
• Occupancy standards

Remember: Your criteria must be applied consistently to all applicants, and you can’t include blanket bans based on criminal history or prior evictions.

If you need help determining your rental criteria, check out our two-part guide on establishing tenant screening policies.

2. Request a rental application

Next, request a rental application from your potential tenant. This is where you can ask for specific details about the applicant to make an informed decision. Modern rental application software will speed up the process, but you’ll want to make sure you have the right questions included.

Some examples of the data you’ll want to collect on the application include:

• Current employment information and employment history
• Total household income (including all legal income sources)
• Complete rental history (minimum 3 years)
• Personal and professional references
• Authorization for background checks and screening reports
• Details about all occupants, including pets

In 2025, you must disclose what screening reports you'll run and provide estimated costs upfront. Application fees are now capped in many states, so you can only charge actual costs.

3. Run a Background Check

After you’ve gathered all the details about your applicant, you can then run a background and credit check. This may involve using a third-party service that will run a report on an applicant’s credit history, search criminal records, verify employment, and look for eviction history.

Today’s screening reports go far beyond the basic credit checks, and you’ll want to make sure they still comply with regulations.

In the checks, you’ll want to check:

• Credit report evaluation (where still permitted)
• Criminal records search (with mandated lookback limits)
• Eviction history review (subject to state restrictions)
• Income verification through automated systems
• Identity verification to prevent fraud

In 2025, you have to maintain compliance, which means you can’t use screening reports to determine eligibility if they:

• Include sealed or expunged records
• Consider evictions without judgments
• Look at criminal records beyond permitted timeframes
• Use discriminatory algorithms or scoring models

More property owners now use integrated property management platforms like TenantCloud that automatically ensure compliance while giving you all the tenant background information you need.

3. Call References and Verify Information

If you’ve reviewed their screening report and determined that they are a good match so far, you can then call their references and current employer to gauge their overall character.

This can also be a good time to gather additional information not included in their background check or application.

4. Meet with Applicant

If you’ve made it this far with your current applicant, the last step is to meet with them and do a formal interview. You can do this over the phone or in person. You may also want to take this time to show the rental if it’s unoccupied. You’ll also want to take this time to review the following:

• Go over the information on their application to gather any missing details
• Talk with the tenant and discuss any discrepancies
• Give the tenant details about the rental, including how to pay rent, utilities available, policies, etc.

When you’ve made your decision, you can send over your lease agreement and get them ready for move-in.

We’ve mentioned it over and over, but it can’t be understated: all of your interactions must maintain fair housing compliance. So make sure you ask the same questions of all applicants and document your process.

Verifying a Tenant’s Details

Part of having a successful tenant screening is knowing how to verify the information you’re provided, which includes learning how to check rental history. This will help you determine if the applicant can make the rent payments, show responsibility, and verify their identity.

This verification process has become more sophisticated with digital tools while also requiring careful attention to new privacy regulations.

You’ll want to begin verifying their information when you receive a completed application. As many tenants tend to go apartment hunting around the time they need to move out of their current home, you’ll want to go through this process as quickly as possible. The average processing time in 2025 is just 48 hours for properties using modern screening tools.

There are third-party verification companies you can use if you’d like a do-it-yourself approach, or you can let a property management software do the tenant screening for you.

Automated Verification Systems

Many tenant screening services now offer instant income verification through banking APIs and employment databases. These use automation to verify employment history, confirm income levels, and even analyze spending patterns to assess a potential tenant’s financial stability.

Traditional Manual Verification

For property owners who prefer a hands-on approach or need to verify information not captured by automated systems, manual verification remains key. This process goes a bit deeper and involves directly contacting employers and calling previous landlords.

Hybrid Approach

Most successful property managers in 2025 will use a combination of automated tenant screening reports and personal verification.

Property management platforms like TenantCloud integrate both – allowing you to run background checks automatically while providing tools to track manual reference checks.

Tip: The advantage of property management platforms, like TenantCloud, is that they’ll often allow you to accept rental applications through your account and automatically run a background check and credit report, maintaining all your application details in one easy-to-find place.

When you receive the background report, you can then compare the details in the report to the details in their application, as well as call their employer and previous landlords to verify their address and current employment.

How to Verify Employment and Income

Do a quick search in your internet browser to look up the companies listed on the application, or use a business directory. There’s now digital verification that allows you to quickly analyze and determine eligibility requirements:

• Use services that connect directly to payroll systems for instant verification
• Request bank statements showing regular deposits (with proper authorization)
• Accept various forms of income, including gig economy earnings, government benefits, and investment income

Other good sources for employee/employer information are LinkedIn, Google Business listings, or company websites. You’ll want to verify that the tenant was an employee at the times they listed on the application, and directly contacting past employers is a great step.

Make sure to explain that the person you’re calling about is applying to be a tenant in your rental and you’d like to verify their employment history.

Other questions you may want to ask include:

• Can you confirm [applicant's name ]'s employment dates and position?
• Is the stated salary of $[amount] accurate?
• Is their employment expected to continue?
• Have there been any performance or attendance issues?

If you do not receive a response or the company is unable to provide any information about their employee, reach out to the next employer and references on their list. You can also ask the applicant to provide a pay stub or current W-2 tax form as proof of employment.

But in 2025, you must accept all legal sources of income, including housing vouchers, disability benefits, and other government assistance. Discrimination based on income source violates updated fair housing laws.

What to Ask Previous Landlords

As you’re reaching out to previous employers and references, make sure to include landlord references on your application, too.

This can include their current landlord as well as any previous landlords. These contacts can provide a reasonable frame of reference on how the tenant has previously treated other properties.

If you need some guidelines on what to ask other landlords, we’ve gathered the most common questions to ask:

Payment History:

• Did the tenant pay rent on time consistently?
• Were there any late payments or NSF checks?
• Did they owe any money when they moved out?

Property Care:

• How was the property condition at move-out?
• Were there damages beyond normal wear and tear?
• Did they report maintenance issues promptly?

Lease Compliance:

• Did they give proper notice before moving?
• Were there any lease violations or complaints?
• Did they follow community rules and regulations?

Big Idea Questions

• Would you rent to this tenant again?
• Is there anything else I should know?

Remember, if there are no previous landlords listed or the tenant has not rented a property before, you can gather details in their credit report to make your decision.

Reading a Background Check

Getting to know your applicant’s background details is essential to making the right decision. When you first receive the results, you might be confused about how to interpret them. Here is what to look for:

Financial History

If terms like “derogatory” show up regarding payment status, the tenant may have late or delinquent payments. This can be a red flag for your applicant, depending on your criteria.

A recurring payment may show up as “revolving,” meaning the tenant currently has a carryover or minimum monthly payment on their credit card. This can be a yellow flag and something to consider while evaluating their overall financial criteria.

Any student loans or fixed payments may report as “installments.” Similar to above, this may be a yellow flag, but again, it depends on your overall criteria. Many renters carry student loans and credit card debt, and are still able to pay their rent on time and show other financial responsibilities.

Credit Scores

Review the tenant’s credit score to determine if they tell a positive financial story. This is usually done with consistent, timely payments.

It’s important to note that not all rent payments or utility payments will show up on a credit report, so a credit score should be considered with the rest of their financial information. You may want to set a minimum threshold credit score in your criteria if you prefer only tenants with a good credit score.

Several states now restrict or prohibit the use of traditional credit scores in tenant screening. Check your local regulations before considering credit information.

Eviction History

Look for public records, evictions, and any accounts that went into collection. If the applicant does not have a criminal record, it will show as not available.

Note, in 2025 and beyond, many states now prohibit considering evictions older than 3-5 years. Plus, evictions filed during the COVID-19 moratoria may have special protections.

Criminal Background Results

You’ll want to review only records within permitted lookback periods (typically 4-7 years), and consider the nature and severity of any offenses. You may need to conduct individualized assessments – so don't automatically disqualify candidates, as they may be under protection from fair housing legislation.

Ignore any sealed, expunged, or juvenile records (these shouldn't appear in compliant reports), and make sure to follow up on any unclear or incomplete information within the report.

Declining an Applicant

If you decide to turn down an applicant after reviewing their tenant screening reports, you must follow specific legal procedures that have become more stringent in 2025.

Simply saying "no" over the phone is no longer enough. Transparency and documentation are now mandatory.

Under the updated Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and state regulations, if you deny an applicant based on information in their background checks, credit report, or screening reports, you must provide a formal adverse action notice that includes:

• Name, address, and phone number of each consumer reporting agency used
• A statement that the screening service didn't make the decision and cannot explain it
• Notice of the applicant's right to a free copy of their report within 60 days
• Their right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information
• The specific reason(s) for denial in clear, understandable language
• Any credit score used in the decision (if applicable)

What to Look for in a Tenant Screening Service

You’d think there would be one or two major tenant screening services out there, but no, there’s like… a bazillion. Or something around that number.

These services are also known as consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), and they are designed to gather the data found on a person’s background history. This can include bankruptcies, liens, credit reports, criminal details, evictions, and employment history.

Which brings good news and bad news.

The good news? They’re easy to find.

The bad news? It’s not always simple to know which one will suit your needs best.

Here’s what to look for in a screening service:

• Ease of Use: Find a service that is simple and easy to navigate, has good reviews, and reliable customer support.
• Legal compliance: Make sure to choose a reputable service that adheres to fair housing laws.
• Quality over speed: Look for a service that is thorough and detailed over one that promises instant turnaround. You want comprehensive data from the major credit bureaus, as well as national registries, criminal databases, and state and local records.
• Income verification: Not all background checks include income verification, and this can be an easy way to ensure that your applicant has the income means to make the rental payments.
• Integrated approach: Finding a service that integrates with the application process can make it easier to pre-screen and assign rental fees, helping you reduce out-of-pocket costs. One example is a property management software, where screenings and background checks can all be found in one easy place.

When choosing a tenant screening solution, you'll need to decide between standalone screening services and integrated property management platforms. How are they different?

Make Tenant Screening Simple with TenantCloud

Navigating tenant screening in 2025 can be tough. You need to know the latest fair housing laws and how to use new technology while staying compliant.

Our platform combines TransUnion-powered background checks with automated compliance features, so you get comprehensive tenant screening reports while staying on the right side of 2025's regulations.

From online applications to credit reports, criminal background checks to income verification, everything happens seamlessly within a single, secure system.

Start screening smarter today with TenantCloud's 14-day free trial and join property owners who've simplified their rental management!

Frequently Asked Questions

What steps should a landlord take to screen a potential tenant in 2025?

The process of screening tenants begins with establishing rental criteria, receiving a rental application, conducting a background check, reaching out to references, and arranging a face-to-face meeting or phone call. The entire process typically takes 48-72 hours using integrated platforms. Property managers must document all steps to ensure fair housing compliance.

How can landlords conduct background and credit checks legally?

Landlords can conduct background checks legally by following the guidelines of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). In 2025, this includes:

• Obtain written consent before running any screening reports, and apply consistent criteria to all applicants
• Disclose what reports will be run and estimated costs upfront
• Use only compliant tenant screening services that exclude sealed/expunged records
• Respect lookback periods (typically 4-7 years for criminal records)
• Provide adverse action notices within three business days if denying based on reports, and give applicants time to dispute inaccurate information

Remember: Many states now restrict the use of traditional credit scores and require individualized assessments rather than automatic disqualifiers.

What criteria should landlords use to evaluate a rental application?

Landlords should use a variety of criteria to evaluate a rental application, including:

1. Utilize tenant screening services to check for credit reports, criminal records, and eviction history.
2. Confirm that the applicant has a stable income to afford the rent.
3. Check the applicant's previous rental history to see if they were reliable tenants.
4. Assess the applicant's credit score and credit history to gauge their financial responsibility.
5. Verify the applicant's employment status and stability.
6. Gather relevant personal information, including references and identification.
7. Conduct a thorough background check to ensure the applicant meets the requirements for tenancy.

By considering all these criteria, landlords can make informed decisions when evaluating rental applications. Remember, all criteria must be applied consistently and cannot discriminate against protected classes or income sources.

Can I deny an applicant with a criminal record?

You can’t automatically deny applicants based solely on criminal history. In 2025, you will need to conduct an individualized assessment considering:

• The nature and severity of the offense
• How much time has elapsed since the conviction (within legal lookback periods)
• Any evidence of rehabilitation
• Relevance to tenant responsibilities.

Remember, blanket policies against any criminal record violate fair housing laws. Always document your individualized decision-making process!

How can landlords avoid discrimination during the screening process?

To prevent discrimination during tenant screening, landlords should use fair and consistent criteria, avoid bias, comply with fair housing laws, and maintain transparency in the process.