Need Advice on Tenant Application

[Matthew Guidry]

I have been looking at sample tenant applications trying to create one I like. A lot of them are very basic and I feel lacking in important information I need to properly screen applicants. I took pieces from several and  made my own. It comes out to 4 pages total. My wife looked over it and thinks it may be too much. Specifically listing all bank accounts and outstanding debts and monthly payments. How long is your application? What are some questions and information you gather from applicants? 

This is for a preliminary screening. Those that make the cut will be sent a SmartMove link for background and credit check.

[Nathan Gesner]

Originally posted by @Matthew Guidry:

I have been looking at sample tenant applications trying to create one I like. A lot of them are very basic and I feel lacking in important information I need to properly screen applicants. I took pieces from several and  made my own. It comes out to 4 pages total. My wife looked over it and thinks it may be too much. Specifically listing all bank accounts and outstanding debts and monthly payments. How long is your application? What are some questions and information you gather from applicants? 

This is for a preliminary screening. Those that make the cut will be sent a SmartMove link for background and credit check.

Four pages? And that's your "preliminary" screening? You need to loosen up, friend!

My preliminary screening is very simple: tell them we will run a full credit/criminal on every adult, they should make 3x the monthly rent income, all income must be verifiable, and we will be calling Landlord references. That alone eliminates 90% of the bad applies. The rest are caught in the formal screening.

I'm managing 400 rentals and run approximately 800 applications a year. It doesn't need to be more complicated than that.