---
aliases: ["Tenant Screening Guide"]
tags: [pm-skills, skill]
skill: tenant-screening-guide
description: "Design a fair, consistent tenant screening process for a rental. Use when asked how to screen tenants, set rental criteria, evaluate rental applicants, or build a tenant screening process. Produces a screening framework — written objective criteria, the application & checks, a consistent evaluation method, and applicant communication — built to be fair and Fair-Housing-compliant. Not legal advice."
---

# Tenant Screening Guide Skill

Good tenant screening is **consistent and criteria-based**: the same written standards applied to every
applicant, judged on objective, rental-relevant factors. That protects the landlord (better tenants, fewer
problems) *and* keeps the process fair and legal. This skill builds that framework — the criteria, the checks,
and a consistent way to decide — so screening isn't ad-hoc or discriminatory.

> **Note:** this is a process aid, **not legal advice**. Tenant screening is heavily regulated — **Fair Housing**
> laws (protected classes), **FCRA**/background-check rules, source-of-income and criminal-history limits, and
> local ordinances vary widely and change. Apply criteria **identically to all applicants**, and have your
> criteria and process reviewed by a qualified attorney/property manager for your jurisdiction.

## Working from a brief

Given "help me screen tenants for my rental", **produce the framework anyway** — propose objective,
rental-relevant criteria and a consistent process, clearly flagging every legally-sensitive choice
*(confirm with local law/attorney)*. Never propose criteria based on protected characteristics; emphasise
consistency.

## Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided (else use labelled defaults):

- **The rental** — type, rent, and any must-haves (lease length, occupancy limits, pets).
- **Your priorities** — what a reliable tenant looks like to you, in objective terms (income, history).
- **Process** — how you accept applications and what checks you can run (credit, background, references).
- **Jurisdiction** — location (so legal sensitivities can be flagged) — and a reminder to confirm specifics.

## Output Format

### Tenant Screening Framework: [rental]

**1. Written objective criteria** — the standards applied to *every* applicant, e.g.:
- **Income** — a rent-to-income ratio (e.g. 2.5–3×), flagged as a setting.
- **Credit / payment history** — a threshold or what you look for (consistency, not just a score).
- **Rental history** — prior-landlord references, on-time payment, no relevant evictions (within legal limits).
- **Verification** — employment/income and identity.
Each marked *(confirm against local law)* where sensitive.

**2. Application & checks** — what to collect (application form, ID, income proof, references) and the checks (credit/background) with **required applicant consent (FCRA)**.

**3. Consistent evaluation** — apply the criteria the same way to all applicants; ideally first-qualified-first or a scored checklist — documented, so decisions are defensible.

**4. Applicant communication** — clear criteria up front, and proper **adverse-action** notice if you decline based on a report (an FCRA requirement) — flagged to confirm.

**5. Compliance guardrails** — apply identically to everyone; judge only rental-relevant, objective factors; **never** screen or comment on protected characteristics (race, colour, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, disability, and other protected classes); respect source-of-income and criminal-history limits where they apply.

Add a prominent note to have the framework reviewed by a local attorney/property manager.

## Quality Checks

- [ ] Criteria are written, objective, and rental-relevant (income, history, verification) — applied to all
- [ ] Process emphasises **consistency** (same standard, same order) and documentation
- [ ] Required consent (FCRA) and adverse-action notice are included and flagged
- [ ] Compliance guardrails name the protected classes and the don'ts explicitly
- [ ] No criterion uses or proxies a protected characteristic
- [ ] A clear instruction to confirm with local law / an attorney is included

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not screen on or mention protected characteristics (or proxies for them) — it's illegal and unfair
- [ ] Do not apply criteria inconsistently between applicants — inconsistency is where discrimination claims live
- [ ] Do not run credit/background checks without consent or skip adverse-action notice — FCRA requires them
- [ ] Do not present this as legal advice or jurisdiction-specific compliance — flag for an attorney
- [ ] Do not use blanket criminal-history bans where the law restricts them — flag to confirm locally

## Based On

Fair-housing & tenant-screening practice — written objective criteria applied consistently, FCRA-compliant checks and notices, and protected-class safeguards (jurisdiction review required).

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