Guide · For owners
Screening Applicants Fairly
A friendly, practical guide for owners to screening rental applicants fairly and consistently, from written criteria and fair housing to screening reports and clear, respectful decisions.
Where to start
- About to list a home?
Start with what written criteria usually cover.
- Applying for a home?
- Reviewing applications now?
Work through the screening checklist.
The short version
Fair screening protects everyone: clear criteria, applied the same way every time.
Write your criteria before listing, share them with every applicant, and review applications in the order received.
Get permission before ordering reports, and give the required notice if a report plays a part in a denial.
Learn the fair housing and screening rules where your home is, and keep applicant information private.
Screening rules differ from place to place, so we’d gently encourage a careful look at the rules where your home is. If you ever have questions, we would love to help.
Four simple rules
- 1Write criteria first
Decide and write down your standards before the home is listed.
- 2Treat everyone the same
Use the same steps, questions and standards for every applicant.
- 3Follow the screening rules
Use consumer reports with permission, and give required notices.
- 4Protect their information
Keep applications private, secure and only as long as needed.
Screening checklist
From the guide’s own checklist. Tick each one as you go. Your ticks stay on this device. These are examples; your home may need others.
All done. Every applicant gets the same fair, clear process.
What written criteria usually cover
- The income needed and how you’ll check it.
- Rental history and credit standards.
- The number of occupants and any pet rules.
- What you check and how, any application fee, how decisions are made and how an applicant can ask a question.
These are common examples. Put your written criteria right in the listing, or link to them.
For applicants: what you can expect
- Ask for the owner’s written screening criteria before you apply or pay any fee.
- Read what will be checked, like credit, rental history, income and references.
- Fill out the application completely and honestly. If something from the past may come up, a short, honest explanation helps.
- Please don’t pay an application fee to anyone until you’ve confirmed they’re the real owner.
- Please don’t send your Social Security number or bank details by unsecured text or email.
If you’re denied
- Take a breath. A denial is not a judgment of who you are.
- Read the notice for the reason and which screening company was used, if any. You can usually request a copy of that report from the company within a set time.
- If something in the report is wrong, dispute it with the company that made it. Errors can be fixed.
- If you believe you were treated unfairly because of a protected characteristic, contact a fair housing organization or HUD. Keep copies of everything.
You did exactly the right thing.
Guides that go well with this one
How much do you remember?
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Go deeper with The Perfect Rental Owner Checklist Workbook
Simple, step by step checklists you can write in for owners who rent out a home: contractors, insurance, fair pricing, records, showings and more.
Keep the full guide handy
The PDF has everything: everyday habits, what to do when something goes wrong, common myths, helpful resources and plenty of real-world tips. Print it, save it or share it with anyone who could use it.
Download the PDFTake it with you
- The Perfect Rental Owner Checklist WorkbookA fillable workbook with a screen version and an ink saver print version.See it in the shop
More guides
This guide shares general information to help you, and is not legal advice. Please talk with an attorney about your screening policy. Bunklow is an advertising board. Renters can choose to share a profile they wrote about themselves. Bunklow does not run reports, score, rank, rate or approve anyone, and does not make rental decisions. Owners make their own decisions.