The Property Manager’s Guide to Compliant Tenant Screening
The tenant screening process is the running shoe of your property management business — built to absorb daily pounding and protect you from Fair Housing violations.
Unlike shoes (and this metaphor), effective screening doesn’t wear out. It just needs occasional updates.
In this post, you’ll learn:
Don’t Skip This: What Is Tenant Screening, Really?
Your gut does a lot of magical things, like turning Flaming Hot Cheetos into actual fuel for your body.
Yet, the feeling in your gut, the one that tells you whether someone might skip out on rent, is not as reliable as you think it is. That’s not personal. It’s just science.
Not to mention, should you be accused of discrimination in your screening process, it’s a lot harder to prove in court that your “gut feeling” is equally applied to all applicants. And as you’ll see, equal application is really important because it’s the law.
All this to say: real, professional-grade tenant screening is crucial.
Real tenant screening is a series of standardized checks — the key word being “standardized.” Which checks you run and how you run them is mostly up to you. But what information you require, when you require it, and how you use that information must all be standardized, i.e. applied equally to every applicant.
Generally, that means all the information you ask for in your pre-screening questions and rental applications must:
- Stick to objective, business-need questions.
- Steer clear of anything touching protected classes.
- Comply with state/local add-ons.
- Apply uniformly to every applicant.
Tenant Screening Services
Many landlords use screening services that compile a tenant screening report, which, according to the CFPB, may contain:
- Credit reports
- Rental history information, including any eviction actions and lawsuits
- Employment verification
- Criminal history
- Sex offender registries
- National terrorist watchlist
- A risk score or recommendation based on criteria selected by the landlord
Exact contents will vary by screening provider and by the criteria you configure.
The Rental Screening Process: From Pre-Qualification to Signed Lease
The screening process is not a single document. It occurs across multiple steps in the leasing process, beginning with pre-qualification and ending with your decision to accept or reject an applicant.
The details of the process vary from property manager to property manager — some PMs trigger further checks based on established, pre-defined criteria. Others run the same checks on every potential tenant.
Regardless, the process usually goes something like this:
- Prospect answers pre-qualifying questions.
- Prospective tenant views the listing* by themselves or accompanied by an agent.
- Prospect submits an application.
- PM verifies identity and income.
- PM runs credit and/or rental history check and/or criminal background check.
- PM checks tenant references.
- PM makes an approve/reject decision.
*If the listing is guided by an agent, this is where the “gut check” happens; the agent tries to “read” the tenant — don’t rely on this.
Tenant Screening = Leasing Efficiency
When your screening is locked down, everything speeds up.
- Clear criteria and pre-qualification stop unqualified prospects before the showing, which cuts down on manual back-and-forth and reduces no-shows.
- Automated document collection and credit/background checks move applicants forward faster without manual work.
- Centralized records facilitate quick dispute resolution and easy audits.
Net result: Your team spends time on serious prospects only, makes decisions sooner, and turns units faster.
The Best Way to Screen Tenants? This is What it Looks Like
Love it or hate it, you can’t deny that the best way to screen tenants is online.
But if we’re being honest, in 2025, online tenant screening is table stakes for serious PMs. You’ll know you’re doing tenant screening right when:
✓ Every listing and/or applicant has a complete digital file with screening documentation.
✓ Criteria (e.g. required income multiples) are codified and applied uniformly.
✓ In-person screening conversations are minimal, or eliminated.
✓ ID checks run automatically.
✓ Fraud detection runs in the background.
✓ Required disclosures go out without manual intervention.
✓ Updates to pre-qualifying forms or rental application sync everywhere.
Key Points of Compliance in Rental Screening
Superficial screening is a serious liability.
It makes you more likely to approve tenants who miss rent, damage units, or vanish mid-lease. It trades a few saved minutes today for evictions and turnover headaches, reputational damage, and operational burdens.
Even worse, it can expose you to Fair Housing complaints that can cost thousands in legal fees.
Specifically, your screening process could run afoul of one of the many federal laws governing this space which include, but aren’t limited to:
- Fair Housing Act (FHA): Prohibits discrimination in housing, including screening, based on disability, race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin.
- Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): Regulates how landlords use credit reports and background checks.
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Screening procedures cannot exclude or burden disabled applicants, and communication must be accessible.
Depending on your location, local ordinances may also apply. These could include limitations on using criminal history, source-of-income protections, etc. It’s your job to be aware of these local laws.
Make Screening Consistent, Documented, and Easier with ShowMojo
Whether you’re a DIY PM with a handful of properties or a national operator with thousands of units, the best screening process hits three key points:
- Standardize what you ask.
- Apply it uniformly.
- Reduce manual touches.
ShowMojo helps you with all of the above. Here’s how:
Compliance support: Publish your application criteria on listings and via text message, plus keep applications, consents, and screenings together. Custom settings allow you to set criteria and handle required notices.
Standardization: Listing-level pre-qual plus conditional questions by listing group, so you ask the right people, the right things, the same way, every time. You can also collect docs (ID, income, Section 8) via text/web, run optional automated ID scanning and document auto-approval, and keep everything in one prospect record.
Operational efficiency: Late Showing Intercept texts prospects who haven’t finished your pre-screening process the exact link they need, so you spend less time chasing. And screening rules ensure that you only spend time on qualified prospects.
Put simply, ShowMojo gives you configurable pre-qualification, application hosting, document and identity checks, and integrated screening. All the tools you need to support a consistent, compliant, and efficient tenant screening process.