Key Takeaways
A thorough tenant screening process, including income verification, credit checks, and rental history, helps landlords secure reliable tenants who pay on time and care for the property.
Pre-screening prospective tenants with key questions can save time by filtering out unqualified applicants before the formal application process.
Landlords must follow fair housing laws when screening tenants, ensuring decisions are based on objective rental criteria rather than protected characteristics.
As a landlord in Tucson the best way to optimize your ROI is by renting to high-quality tenants. Quality tenants will pay rent consistently, take care of your rental property, and notify you of issues before they become serious and potentially costly to repair. However, attracting and retaining such tenants requires a lot of work. And that’s where tenant screening comes in. This will help maximize your chances of landing the most suitable tenant for your property. To help, we at RGroup Realty have put together this guide on how to effectively screen tenants!
Learn how we can help you maximize your property investment's potential.
Identify Quality Tenants
Know what attributes you are looking for in a tenant. Generally speaking, quality tenants possess the following qualities:
- Have a stable job and can pay rent on time, every time.
- Have a high credit rating.
- Don’t have a relevant criminal status.
- Have no history of prior evictions.
- Have a history of being responsible.
Once you know what qualities you are looking for, it’ll become easier for you to notice the potential red flags in a prospective tenant.
Steps of the Tenant Screening Process
The following is everything you need to do for the screening process to be effective:
Pre-Screen Prospective Tenants
This process allows your to learn some basic information about a prospective tenant. It can ultimately save you valuable time as you can filter out prospects that don’t meet your baseline criteria.
You can ask prospective tenants some questions over a phone call, email, or even text. The following are some pre-screening questions you could ask:
- Why are you looking to move? Look for reasons such as job relocation or lifestyle change.
- Are you willing to undergo a mandatory credit and background check?
- When are you looking to move out? Only consider tenants looking to move in within your ideal rental window.
- How much income do you make every month? Ideally, look for tenants looking for 3X the monthly rent.
- Can you provide references of your current or prior landlords?
If a prospective tenant doesn’t meet these requirements early on, then you don’t have move forward with a more exhaustive screening process. Note that your screening questions must not violate the Federal or State Fair Housing Laws. For example, you must not ask prospective tenants:
- Are you disabled?
- Which country are you originally from?
- What church do you attend?
- Do you have any children?
- Are you married?
Verify Prospective Tenants’ Income & Employment
Verifying a tenant’s income and employment can help you determine whether or not they’ll be able to make timely rent payments.
Ideally, when it comes to income, you want to focus on tenants making at least 3X the monthly rent amount. For instance, if you require tenants to pay a monthly rent amount of $1,200, then require that they make at least $3,600 a month.
Aside from verifying a tenant’s income, make sure to ask their employer certain questions including:
- What position and title does the tenant hold?
- How long has the tenant been working there?
- Do you anticipate any changes regarding their employment soon?
- How often does the tenant get paid?
Know this can help you verify the information the tenant put on their application as well as gauge their ability to rent long-term.
Contact Prior Landlords
Just like with a tenant’s employer, contacting prior landlords should be a must-do when screening prospective tenants in Arizona. The following are some questions to ask prior landlords:
- Can you confirm that the tenant rented from you?
- How long did the tenant rent from you?
- How much rent were they paying you every month?
- Was the tenant punctual with their rent payments?
- Did they leave their premises in good condition?
- Did the tenant comply with the terms of the lease agreement?
Be aware, though, that the tenant may have a friend or family member pretend to be a prior landlord. As such, make sure to carry out all other phases of the tenant screening process.
Accept or Deny the Prospective Tenant
After following the steps above, decide whether to accept or reject the applicant. If you are declining the tenant, make sure to have it in writing. This will ensure you have evidence of the reason for the rejection.
Beyond the screening process, there are other things you should do to attract high-quality tenants to rent your property.
Please note, however, that you cannot reject the tenant due to a protected class. The protected classes under the Fair Housing Act include:
- Race
- Color
- Religion
- Nationality
- Familial status
- Sex
- Disability
The only reason to deny a prospective tenant the opportunity to rent your property is if they fail your bona fide rental qualifying criteria. For example:
- They make insufficient income.
- They have a history of late or missed rent payments.
- They have a past eviction history.
- They’d exceed the occupancy limits as set by local regulations.
- If personal or professional references provide negative feedback.
If you receive unfavorable references from previous landlords, such as reports of late rent payments or property damage. If you accept the tenant’s rental application, notify them of the next steps like signing the lease agreement and obtaining keys.
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Bottom Line
Renting to quality tenants will ensure you enjoy a positive experience as a landlord, all while maximizing your ROI. With this understanding of the elements that make up a tenant screening, you can carry out the process with more confidence.
For expert help with tenant screening, or any other management tasks, look no further than RGroup Realty. We can provide you with customized, full-service property management solutions aimed at maximizing investment returns. Contact our property management team today for more information!
Steve Rice
Steven R. Rice is the Founder and Designated Broker of RGroup Realty and Property Management and the driving force behind affiliated companies, including Elements By Design and Sizzle Marketing. With more than 24 years of real estate experience and over 17 years in property management, he specializes in residential real estate brokerage, property management, investor relations, property performance strategy, BINSR and repair coordination, agent development, and building integrated service models that connect brokerage, maintenance, and marketing. Steven holds the CRS, ALHS, CLHMS, CRPM, SRES, GRI, SFR, and e-PRO designations, and has served in leadership roles with Long Realty, Realty Executives, and Keller Williams before founding RGroup Realty and Property Management in 2024.