3 Top Tenant Screening Tips Every Property Manager Needs

It’s been reported that as little as 10% of potential tenants that are actually qualified for a property they’re interested in will show up to their viewing appointment and will submit a complete and accurate application. 

The odds are stacked against property managers right from the start. This means that thorough tenant screening is critical to finding quality tenants.

The Tenant Screening Process

Tenant screening is the most time-consuming task of rental property management. While it takes only a few minutes to run credit checks and criminal background checks, it can take several days to verify employment, check rental history, and contact references.

Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of tenant screening, will ensure better quality tenants and reduced vacancy time.

Let’s start by looking at a typical tenant screening process.

1. Rental Showing: Your prospective tenant contacts you to schedule an appointment to visit the property. (The risk of no-shows is high, so be sure to confirm the appointment to improve your chances of success.) They will then tour the property through self showing or with assistance from you. 
2. Tenant Application: After the showing, a rental application is provided in person or digitally to determine if they meet the qualifications of the rental. 
3. Landlord References: Contact both current and previous landlords to review accuracy of past and current rental behavior and reliability. 
4. Employment Verification: This is typically a straightforward, quick call where you confirm employment status and reported income are accurate. Remember to verify the validity of the speaker to ensure they are a representative of that company not a personal acquaintance of the prospect.  
5. Credit Report: A proven history of responsible borrowing and repayment is a great sign, while low credit scores are one of the key rental red flags for property managers.
6. Eviction History: Identify whether your prospective tenant has been evicted before, which is an indicator that you could face a costly and time-consuming eviction one day, too.
7. Criminal Background: This helps reduce property risk — but remember to deal with anything you find on a case-by-case basis. There are online state databases for these types of background checks, and HUD has guidance on how you can and can’t use any information you find.
8. Standardize It All: Ensure that you're consistent when  pre-qualifying applicants. 

After reviewing this list you can see why the process is so time consuming. But don’t worry, there are three specific ways you can streamline this entire process and fill your vacancies quickly!

Tip #1: Pre-Screen and Only Spend Time on Qualified Leads

The best way to optimize your process and increase efficiency is to only review qualified tenant leads that meet your pre determined criteria for the rental. Pre-screening gives you an opportunity to make sure that your potential tenants meet your minimum qualification requirements: things like income-to-rent ratio, employment status, move-in date, and pet ownership. 

When you can automatically send pre-qualification questions at the point of initial contact, you have a chance to determine upfront whether the person is qualified. This reduces friction for the prospective tenant and allows you to reduce time spent on unqualified leads. Your rental applicants will appreciate that you aren’t wasting their time unnecessarily.

Tip #2: Use Technology to Automate As Much As Possible

Technology is key to screening quickly and consistently while saving you time and energy and still remaining consistent in every interaction. With property management software and an integrated tenant showing scheduler, you can put repetitive, time-draining tasks on autopilot and reduce the interruptions you experience in your workday.

Technology like Tenant Turner software will let you:

1. Use consistent, automated pre-qualification questions to immediately qualify or disqualify a lead based on your requirements (you can also add custom questions).
2. Respond to every single tenant lead inquiry automatically, without interrupting your workflow.
3. Allow prospective tenants to book rental showings online — you can require the prospective tenant to confirm the showing. You have the ability to cancel a showing that was not confirmed, helping to reduce your risk of no-shows. 
4. Send links to rental applications immediately during or after each showing to remain front of mind for that lead.
5. Install an electronic lockbox to enable secure automated showings that don’t require you to attend — or host and track virtual apartment showings, another great no-contact option.
6. Leverage artificial intelligence and anti-fraud detection to verify a tenant lead’s identity and screen against a blacklist of known squatters and scammers.

Tip #3: Outsource to Trusted Screening Services

Lead scheduling software like Tenant Turner helps you automate and standardize your tenant screening process, ensuring you only work with pre-qualified leads. After that lead completes a showing and an application, the next step is typically a background check, which can include credit score, employment verification, reference checks, as well as criminal background and eviction history.

There are plenty of trustworthy tenant screening companies out there that will pull a full credit report, run eviction reports, do background criminal checks, and more. One company we feel comfortable recommending is RentPrep.

By leaving the deeper tenant screening work to companies who specialize in this, you’ll get the benefit of their expertise and access, and you can stay focused on more important priorities.

That sounds like a winning combination!

Save Almost Two Days Per Week, Per Person

Tenant Turner scheduling software enables consistent pre-qualification of tenant leads and by automating much of the leasing process. It will save you significant time. Our customers report a 70-90% reduction in phone calls (read: interruptions), and a savings of 10-15 hours per week, per person.

When paired with tenant screening services, you can streamline the entire process from end to end. There’s no easier way to ensure that you find those 10% of qualified potential tenants.

Download the Ultimate Tenant Lead & Leasing Automation Guide for Residential Property Managers and Brokers: