tenant screening question

[Steven Anderson]

Quick question. If you screen multiple applicants and they all qualify do you tell the applicants you will give a lease to whomever is willing to sign a multi year lease?

[Alex Hamilton]

Hello @Steven Anderson. I would avoid choosing your tenants this way. You may be exposing yourself to an unnecessary risk of litigation depending on landlord/tenant law in your state.

I understand the logic in getting as many applicants, then screening them all and choosing the best from among the bunch. However, this practice is not fair to the prospects that you end up turning down. It's best to only screen one applicant at a time, and accept the first one that meets your screening criteria.

Consider how your prospects will feel when they are charged an application fee, then denied tenancy even though they meet your criteria. Also if you're getting a credit report, the inquiry will adversely affect their credit score, since a tenant screening report is a hard hit to credit. You'll end up with a lot of disgruntled applicants by continuing to screen this way. 

Since it sounds like the damage is done at this point, I suggest accepting the first person that applied and met your criteria. Next time, address your leasing terms before screening, so your applicants can decide whether or not they want to apply. Feel free to contact me directly for more support with this matter.