Tenant screening is one of the most important steps to finding the right individuals to rent your property. Screening is key to avoiding issues and complications like eviction, late rent payments, and property damage. Part of that process is asking essential tenant screening questions that help you vet applicants and get a feel for what kind of renters they will be.
- Why tenant screening is important
- How to conduct a background check on a tenant
- When to ask questions of potential tenants
- Crafting essential tenant screening questions
- What landlords can’t ask renter applicants
- Screening red flags
Why Tenant Screening Is Important
Conducting tenant screening minimizes risk and helps protect you and your property from problematic renters. It allows you to make informed decisions about an applicant’s suitability. If you skip screening potential tenants, you open yourself up to a range of issues, from financial losses to legal disputes.
The importance of tenant screening questions
Tenant screening questions are important because they help determine whether an applicant would be a good fit for your property. Applications and background checks are a great way to get a precursory preview of the tenant, but they don’t always tell the whole story. Asking questions allows you to learn more about an individual and how they might behave as a renter. To get a comprehensive view of an applicant, make sure to screen them and ask the right questions.
How to Conduct a Background Check on a Tenant
Just like questions are part of the tenant screening process, so is conducting background checks. While it may seem challenging, Apartments.com makes it easy by gathering all the necessary information. You can screen tenants and ask for any additional documentation on one platform. Once completed, you’ll get back a credit report, employment history, proof of income, criminal history, rental history, and eviction history. There is no cost on the landlord's side; applicants will pay the fee for screening.
When to Ask Questions of Potential Tenants
Depending on where you are in the process, you should ask different kinds of questions for potential renters. When pre-screening, screening, and getting an application from potential tenants, there are general and standard questions that you may ask.
Pre-screening questions
During pre-screening, collect basic information like their name, employment, income, rental history, and pets. By narrowing down the applicant pool, you can focus on candidates who meet your criteria and seem suited for your property. You should ask more in-depth questions when you meet with the tenant.
Questions for tenant interviews
When interviewing the tenant, it is time to address what you found during the screening process and dive deeper than the surface-level questions. You want to get to know what they are looking for. If you own multiple properties and the one they’re touring isn’t a good fit, you could recommend they check out another one of your properties that meets their criteria. It is also a great opportunity to ask questions about the tenant’s behaviors and habits to see if they would be a good match. You can ask them about smoking habits, the frequency of guests, and their lifestyle, but be aware there are topics you can’t ask about.
Screening reports don’t tell the whole story; they give you the results. So, it can be a good idea to ask about any issues that turned up during the screening process, as there may be a plausible reason behind the issue. For a tenant that is perfect in every other way, it might be worth ignoring that blip on their record.
Crafting Essential Tenant Screening Questions
While a list of the most commonly asked tenant screening questions can be helpful, it is more general, so it might miss out on nuances unique to your property. Tailoring questions to your property and crafting your own can help you get the information and insight you want.
You can endlessly come up with questions for prospective tenants, but it is more important that they extract helpful information — go for quality over quantity. A great first step is seeing what kinds of information you want to get from the tenant. This could include topics regarding behavior, lifestyle, rental criteria, background, employment, income, history, and more.
Once you have the general areas you want to ask about, you can start writing questions. Make sure to address any concerns or uncertainties from the application or screening.
Rental criteria questions
To see if the tenant would fit your property, determine what they want in their next residence.
- Why are you moving?
- What are you looking for in your next home?
- How many cars do you have? How many parking spaces do you need?
- How many people will be living with you?
- How many bedrooms and bathrooms are you looking for? Are you looking for a certain amount of square footage?
Questions about behaviors
If your property aligns with what the applicant wants, you can ask more about their behaviors to see if you are comfortable renting to them.
- Will anyone living on the property smoke?
- How often do you have overnight guests?
- Do you have a pet? If so, can you tell me a bit about them, such as their breed and behavior?
- Do you know the pet deposit/rent charges, and will you pay them?
- As the renter, you will be responsible for [tasks the renter(s) will be responsible for like yard maintenance]. Are you okay with that?
Background check questions
Asking about a tenant’s background can be helpful in seeing how they respond, as well as figuring out the circumstances surrounding any issues. For example, they might have been evicted for not paying rent. However, the circumstances surrounding it were that they were suddenly laid off, but they now have a steady job and income. It may be worth setting aside that issue if they’re otherwise a good match. Background check questions can help you get a comprehensive and in-depth view of the tenant.
- Have you been evicted before?
- Are you currently renting a place? If so, where and for how long?
- What other places have you rented? And for how long?
- Can I ask your previous/current landlords for references?
- Have you broken a lease agreement before? If so, why?
- Is there anything I should know before running a criminal background check?
- Have you filed for bankruptcy?
- Can I run a credit check?
Employment and income questions
A reliable renter who pays rent on time and has a steady job or income means fewer headaches and potential issues. Discussing their employment and income can help you decide if they will be dependable.
- Are you currently employed, and if so, where? For how long?
- Do you work in-office, hybrid, or remotely?
- Do you think you will have any income issues affecting rent payments?
- Can you provide proof of your employment or steady income?
Questions about the next steps
If you want to move forward with the tenant, you can ask about their next steps.
- Will you sign a [x]-month lease agreement?
- When are you looking to move?
- Can you pay the fees and deposits when you sign the lease?
- Do you have any questions for me?
Asking the tenant if they have any questions is important because it allows them to find out any information they might want to know about the property or the process. While filling vacancies is important, it has to be a good fit for both you and the tenant.
What Landlords Can’t Ask Renter Applicants
You want to find out as much as possible about applicants to see if they would make a good renter, but there are topics you cannot discuss per fair housing laws. These laws protect tenants from discrimination regarding race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability. This includes questions like:
- What religion do you practice?
- Where were you born?
- Do you have any kids?
- Will you need special accommodations for a disability?
Screening Red Flags
Asking questions also helps identify any red flags that may mean they are scamming you or will become problem renters. Background checks can bring red flags to light, like a low credit score, criminal history, fake references, and false contact information. You should also look for flags when talking to tenants, such as an over-denial of screening report results, dishonesty, or evasiveness of answers. These can all be warning signs of future issues like missing rent payments, unauthorized subleasing, needing to be evicted, and more.
Need Help Screening Potential Tenants?
Do your tenant screening and background checks on Apartments.com to get all the information you need with no effort. Once a renter applies and pays the fee for screening, you will get results with information about evictions, criminal history, credit history, and more. Make your decisions with confidence with tenant screening on Apartments.com.
FAQ
What shows up on a tenant screening report?
On Apartments.com, tenant screening reports contain information about evictions, criminal history, and background checks. This includes income-to-rent ratio, employment status, household info, rental history, TransUnion ResidentScore, and more.
What pre-screening questions should I ask for my rental?
To narrow down applicants and make sure their wants for a property align with what you are offering, there are some good questions to ask during pre-screening:
- When are you looking to move?
- What kind of property are you looking for? How many beds and bathrooms?
- How many people will be living on the property?
- What lease term are you looking for?
What documents should I request from an applicant?
Documents can help provide additional information to help you decide whether to rent to the tenant. Some common ones that landlords ask for are proof of income, proof of identification, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance.
