Home › Guides › How to screen tenants

How to screen tenants for a rental property, with a Fair Housing note

By Spruce Sheets · Updated November 14, 2026 · 6 min read

Screening tenants is how you decide who will live in the property and pay the rent. The aim is a process that is thorough, repeatable and fair: the same written criteria, in the same order, for every applicant. This guide sets out a practical sequence for small landlords and the Fair Housing rules that have to sit at the front of it. It is not a legal manual, and it is not a recommendation to use any particular credit or background vendor.

General information, not legal advice. Federal, state and local fair-housing and tenant-screening laws apply, including rules on application fees, criminal-history and credit checks, and source-of-income protections in some places. Those laws change. Check the current rules where the property is, or ask a local attorney, before you publish criteria or turn an applicant down.

Start with written criteria, not a gut feeling

Write the standards down before you advertise the unit, and use them for every applicant. A simple one-page policy might cover:

• The rent, the deposit, and any lawful application fee.
• An income guideline, if you use one, and whether a guarantor is allowed.
• That you will check rental history and, if you do, credit.
• How you will consider criminal history, if you consider it at all, in a way that follows current HUD and state guidance.
• That you will not discriminate on the basis of a protected class (see below).
• How long an approved applicant has to sign and pay before you move to the next person.

A gut "I just got a bad feeling" is how inconsistent, and possibly unlawful, decisions get made. If an applicant does not meet a written standard, you can explain the decision. If they do meet it, you can say yes without inventing a new test.

Fair Housing is not optional

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the rental of housing because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability. Federal guidance treats "sex" as including sexual orientation and gender identity. Familial status covers households with children and many pregnancy- or custody-related situations. Disability includes a duty to provide reasonable accommodations and to allow reasonable modifications, in the circumstances the law provides.

Many states and cities add protected classes, often including source of income (for example, a housing voucher), military or immigration status, or others. A policy that says "no Section 8" can be illegal where source of income is protected.

Practical consequences for screening:

• Advertise and apply the same standards to everyone.
• Do not set different income, occupancy or "fit" rules for families with children, or for a person with a disability, than you would for other applicants, except as the law specifically allows.
• Be careful with occupancy limits: overly tight "one person per bedroom" rules can run into familial-status problems.
• Do not ask questions about someone's disability, plans to have children, religion or national origin as part of the application.
• If you take notes, write facts ("application incomplete," "income below the stated guideline") rather than impressions of the person.

A consistent process is the best everyday protection you have. It is not a substitute for legal advice when a situation is close.

A simple screening sequence

1. Advertise the unit and the criteria, including the rent and what you will ask for.
2. Show the unit in a way that is open to qualified applicants, not only to people you already know.
3. Take a written application from anyone who wants to apply. Charge only an application fee that local law allows, and only for actual screening costs if that is the rule where you are.
4. Identify the applicant (and any adult who will live in the unit) and get authorization for any credit or background check you will run.
5. Check income against the stated guideline, using recent pay stubs, an offer letter, tax returns or other documents you have said you will accept. A common policy is monthly income of at least three times the rent: on $1,650 rent, that is $4,950; on $1,800 rent, $5,400. That multiple is a policy choice, not a federal requirement. If local law requires you to count a voucher or other lawful subsidy, count it.
6. Check rental history with prior landlords, using the same questions each time: rent paid, notices given, condition of the unit, whether they would rent to the person again.
7. If you use credit or a screening report, use the same thresholds or review process for everyone, and give any adverse-action notices the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires.
8. If you consider criminal history, do it only under a written, current, legally informed policy. Do not improvise a "no records of any kind" rule.
9. Approve or decline in writing, against the published criteria, and move to the next complete application if the first approved applicant does not sign in time.
10. Then collect the deposit and first month's rent, sign the lease, and set up the rent ledger. Screening ends when the tenancy starts; after that you are tracking performance, not re-screening.

Process applications in the order they are complete, unless a local rule says otherwise. Jumping a later applicant to the front because they "seem easier" is how you leave the written policy.

What you should not do

• Steer applicants toward or away from a unit because of a protected class.
• Change the rent or the deposit for one applicant for a discriminatory reason.
• Refuse to deal with a reasonably necessary assistance animal as if it were a pet, where disability rules require an accommodation. Pet-rent policies and disability accommodations are not the same thing; get advice if you are unsure.
• Use a social-media search as a substitute for criteria. Informal digging is hard to apply evenly and can pull in information you are not supposed to use.
• Accept cash off the books to skip the application. It destroys your records and your consistency.

After you approve someone

Give the approved applicant a clear deadline to sign the lease and pay the amounts due. Once the tenancy starts, track rent and the deposit on their own records. If you later have to explain why you chose this tenant, the file should show a complete application, a check against the written criteria, and the same steps you would have taken for anyone else.

The Rent Ledger & Late Rent Tracker is for the tenancy after screening: charges, payments and a running balance, not a substitute for a fair application process.

This guide is not legal advice and is not a complete statement of Fair Housing, FCRA or state screening law. Check current rules where the property is.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Fair Housing Act in tenant screening?

The federal Fair Housing Act bars discrimination in housing because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex (which federal guidance treats as including sexual orientation and gender identity), familial status or disability. You must use the same written criteria for every applicant. Many states and cities add further protected classes, such as source of income.

What income is typically required to rent?

There is no federal income multiple. A common written policy is gross monthly income of at least three times the rent, applied the same way to every applicant. For $1,650 rent, that guideline would be $4,950 a month. If you accept a guarantor or count housing vouchers, say so in the criteria and follow local source-of-income rules.

Can a landlord refuse a tenant with a criminal record?

A blanket ban can raise Fair Housing issues, because criminal-records policies can have a disparate impact. If you consider criminal history, use a consistent, individualized policy and read current HUD and state guidance rather than inventing an informal ban. This is not legal advice.

Keep reading

• How to track rent payments: a simple system for small landlords
• How to track security deposits on a rental property
• Rent ledger template: what to include and how to keep it