The Tenant Screening Process: Steps, Criteria, and Legal Rules

Screen every applicant against the same written criteria and in the same order: publish your criteria, take a complete application and any fee your state allows, pull credit and eviction reports, verify income and rental history, then decide and send the notices the law requires. The federal Fair Housing Act bars treating applicants differently because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires an adverse action notice whenever a screening report plays any part in a denial or in worse terms. For criminal history, HUD has withdrawn its 2016 federal guidance, and New Jersey, California, Colorado, and New York City set their own limits (step 5).

Step 1: Write your criteria before you advertise

Write down each standard and how you will measure it: minimum income as a multiple of rent, the credit items that lead to denial, the rental history you require, any criminal history policy, and occupancy limits. Give the list to every applicant before they apply, apply it the same way to each one, and note on each file which standard decided the outcome. If you change a standard, apply the change to everyone who applies after that.

The Fair Housing Act requires one kind of exception. If an applicant with a disability asks you to change a rule or policy because of the disability, you must make the change when it is reasonable and needed to give that person an equal chance to use the housing. Record the request and your answer.

States and cities add their own rules:

• Washington: before you collect any information, give applicants a written notice of the types of information you will check, the criteria that can lead to denial, whether you accept a reusable screening report the applicant already has, and, if you use a consumer report, the screening company's name and address and the applicant's right to a free copy and to dispute errors (RCW 59.18.257).
• Colorado: you cannot require income above twice the annual rent, or twice the tenant's share when a housing subsidy pays part. A 3-times-rent rule on an $1,800 unit would demand $5,400 a month; Colorado allows you to require no more than $3,600. For an applicant with a subsidy, you also cannot consider a credit score, negative credit events, or the lack of a score unless federal law requires it.
• California and New York: you cannot refuse an applicant because of a lawful source of income, such as a housing voucher. In California, when a subsidy pays part of the rent, apply your income standard to the tenant's share, and let the applicant show ability to pay with benefit records, pay records, or bank statements instead of a credit report.
• New York City: leave criminal history out of your ads and application; step 5 covers when you may ask.

Step 2: Take the application and any fee

The FCRA lets you pull a screening report on anyone who applies to rent; a signed authorization documents that purpose. Ask for current and past addresses with landlord contacts, employers and other income sources, and every adult who will live in the unit. State law sets what you can charge:

Step 3: Pull credit and eviction reports

Order reports only for people who have applied, and read the items your criteria name, such as unpaid rent in collections and eviction cases, rather than the score alone. Confirm each record matches the applicant's name, date of birth, and past addresses, and look up the court record of any eviction case to see how it ended before you deny on it.

In New York, you cannot refuse to rent because an applicant was part of a past landlord-tenant case, and if you check housing court records and then reject the applicant, the law presumes the case was the reason. In Colorado, rental and credit history more than 7 years old is off limits.

Step 4: Verify income and rental history

Check income against the documents your criteria list, such as recent pay stubs, tax returns for self-employed applicants, and benefit award letters, and confirm employment at a phone number you look up yourself. Call the current landlord and one earlier one, check county property records to confirm each reference owns or manages that property, and ask factual questions: the rent, whether it was paid on time, notices served, deposit deductions, and whether they would rent to the applicant again.

Step 5: Decide how you will use criminal history

HUD withdrew its 2016 guidance on criminal records effective September 25, 2025. The Supreme Court held in 2015 that disparate impact claims, which challenge a policy's unjustified discriminatory effect rather than its intent, can be brought under the Fair Housing Act. HUD proposed in January 2026 to drop its own disparate impact rule and leave the question to courts; that proposal was not final as of October 22, 2026. If you screen for criminal history, limit it to specific convictions within a set number of years that bear on safety or property, and consider what the applicant tells you about the record.

State and local laws go further. New Jersey and New York City allow a check only after a conditional offer, meaning you have offered the unit subject to the background check:

Step 6: Decide, notify, and keep the file

If a screening report played any part in a denial, or in approval on worse terms such as requiring a cosigner, a deposit other applicants do not pay, or higher rent, the FCRA requires an adverse action notice, even if the report was a small factor. The notice must give:

1. The name, address, and phone number of the screening company.
2. A statement that the company did not make the decision and cannot give the reasons for it.
3. The applicant's right to a free copy of the report if requested within 60 days, and to dispute information that is wrong or incomplete.

If you used a credit score, also give the score, its source, the date it was created, the range of possible scores, and the key factors that lowered it, in order of importance. Washington also requires a dated, signed written notice stating the reasons for the decision. Colorado requires a written denial with the reasons and a copy of any consumer report, and a good-faith effort to send it within 20 calendar days.

Keep each file, with your criteria, the reports, and your decision notes, so you can show which standard decided each application. When you discard reports, the FTC requires secure disposal, such as shredding paper and making electronic files unreadable. Legal compliance for property managers and landlords covers the rules that apply after move-in, and the eviction process covers what follows when a tenancy fails. To hand screening to a manager instead, see self-managing vs hiring a property manager.