Tenant Screening and the Rental Process
Tenant selection is the most critical skill in property management — a great tenant makes ownership easy; a problem tenant can cost thousands in eviction fees, repairs, and lost rent. A comprehensive screening process includes: rental application (employment, rental history, references), credit check (looking for judgments, evictions, high debt-to-income, late payment history), background check (criminal record relevant to safety of the property), income verification (standard guideline: tenant's gross income should be 2.5–3× monthly rent), and landlord reference checks from the previous 2 landlords. Fair housing law (Fair Housing Act, 1968) prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or familial status — landlords must apply consistent screening criteria to every applicant. Establish and document your written screening criteria before listing the property. If a qualified applicant's income falls short, you may accept a cosigner (someone who agrees to cover rent if the tenant defaults). The eviction process is expensive and slow (2–6 months in most jurisdictions, longer in tenant-friendly states) and costs $2,000–$10,000+ in legal fees and lost rent — which is precisely why preventing problem tenancies through rigorous screening is far less costly than resolving them.