{"id":772,"date":"2008-02-09T06:46:13","date_gmt":"2008-02-09T13:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/renewsblog\/2008\/02\/09\/managing-tenants-part-three-written-criteria-for-tenant-selection\/"},"modified":"2021-03-16T09:35:37","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T15:35:37","slug":"2008-02-09-managing-tenants-part-three-written-criteria-for-tenant-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2008-02-09-managing-tenants-part-three-written-criteria-for-tenant-selection","title":{"rendered":"Managing Tenants Part Three: Written Criteria for Tenant Selection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Success as a landlord depends on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/27\/tenant-screening\/\" target=\"_blank\">screening tenants<\/a>-weeding out the Naughty and renting to the Nice. Awareness of (and compliance with the Fair Housing Act is not only necessary, but essential to success for any [tag]rental[\/tag] business. Adopting a set of written criteria for tenant selection is one of the best (and easiest) ways <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2008\/02\/02\/managing-tenants-part-two-steering-clear-of-the-fair-housing-act\/\" target=\"_blank\">to stay on the goodie-good side of the Fair Housing Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In its simplest incarnation, written criteria can be nothing more than a simple set of guidelines which clearly define who can rent your properties. For example:<\/p>\n<p>Applicants:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Must have verifiable monthly income of at least 3 times the rent<\/li>\n<li>Need credit score over 600<\/li>\n<li>Provide copy of photo ID<\/li>\n<li>Must have no prior evictions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Keeping things simple works, but more detailed criteria can help chose between several qualified applicants.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Let&#8217;s Makes Things as Difficult as Possible&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a sample set of written criteria using a point system. Criteria are weighted according to the importance the landlord places on each item- a system that allows more freedom for personal preference. (In the example below, it&#8217;s fairly obvious the landlord gets highly peeved by lateness and no-shows when showing his properties.)<\/p>\n<p>Once again, feel free to cut, paste and personalize to suit your circumstances. A quick internet search will yield a surplus of additional ideas and clauses to suit a multitude of situations and localities. (Apologies in advance for formatting errors which fail to translate well from MSWord to Blogsville.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Interview: House showing:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>On time for appointment: 5 points\n<ol>\n<li>Running late, called to inform: 3 points<\/li>\n<li>Late:     0-10 minutes 2 points<\/li>\n<li>11-20 minutes 0 points<\/li>\n<li>20+ minutes- landlord leaves, applicant rejected<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Respectful and courteous: (subjective, score -5 to 5)\n<ol>\n<li>To landlord:<\/li>\n<li>To each other:<\/li>\n<li>*Cursing, swearing, pushing, shoving, and violent behavior, demeaning speech or treatment of landlord or landlord&#8217;s agent or to one another: Applicant rejected<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Neat\/Clean appearance of all parties: 5 points<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Application:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Attached copies of ID to application: (Driver&#8217;s license and social security card)\n<ol>\n<li>Yes: 5 points<\/li>\n<li>No: 0 points<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Filled out application entirely leaving no blanks:\n<ol>\n<li>Yes: 5 points<\/li>\n<li>No: -5 points, grounds for rejection<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Brought application fee? ($25)\n<ol>\n<li>Yes: 5 points<\/li>\n<li>No: application shelved until funds received<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Application complete without errors or omissions:\n<ol>\n<li>Yes: 0 points- expected<\/li>\n<li>No: application rejected<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Able to provide\n<ol>\n<li>verification of previous address: Driver&#8217;s license or utility bill: 5 points<\/li>\n<li>Proof of income, employment: Pay stub: 5 points<\/li>\n<li>If self employed, a tax return or bank statement: 5 points<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Able to pay first months rent:\n<ol>\n<li>Yes: 0 points<\/li>\n<li>No: application rejected<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Able to pay full amount of security deposit:  5 points\n<ol>\n<li>Half of security deposit? 0 points<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Monthly income= 3X rent amount ie: ($1350 x 3 = 4050\/month or $48,600 \/ year).\n<ol>\n<li>Higher 3X-4X: 5 points<\/li>\n<li>3X: 0 points<\/li>\n<li>2X or below: Application rejected, co-signer considered<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Stable income or employment\n<ol>\n<li>For of 3+ years:  5 points<\/li>\n<li>1-3 years: 3 points<\/li>\n<li>0-1 year: 0 points<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Credit history:\n<ol>\n<li>Score over 700: 10 points<\/li>\n<li>Score 650-700: 5 points<\/li>\n<li>Score 600-650: 2 points<\/li>\n<li>Below 600: 0 points<\/li>\n<li>Bankruptcy: -10 points<\/li>\n<li>Collections: -5 points<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>At current address for a minimum of:\n<ol>\n<li>1 year: 3 points<\/li>\n<li>1+ years: 5 points<\/li>\n<li>Less than 1 year: -5 points<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>No pets: 5 points<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Pets accepted on a case by case basis. No large or heavy breeds of dogs-no dogs over 20 pounds. No snakes, reptiles or birds larger than a canary.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Non-smoker: 10 points<\/li>\n<li>Number of residents does not exceed occupancy limits: (2 per bedroom+1)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Background Check\/Screening<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Name must not appear in Sex Offenders Registry.<\/p>\n<p>Criminal history may not contain drug offenses within 7 years except for one conviction for possession of a controlled substance.<\/p>\n<p>Criminal history may not contain felony convictions within 7 years for violent crimes or property crimes.<\/p>\n<p>Those with criminal history&#8217;s dating 7+ years will be considered on a case by case basis.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Verified previous landlord? 5 points<\/li>\n<li>Verified 2 previous landlords? 10 points           <\/li>\n<li>Gave proper notice to previous landlord? 5 points<\/li>\n<li>Verified rent amount to previous landlord?  0 points<\/li>\n<li>No problems with previous landlord? 0 points\n<ol>\n<li>Problems: Possible rejection<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Prior evictions: Application rejected<\/li>\n<li>Previous deposit fully returned: (None held for damages) 5 points<\/li>\n<li>No significant violations of previous rental agreement: 5 points<\/li>\n<li>Complaints filed with police dept for disturbances: Application rejected<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Score: ______<\/p>\n<p>Applicant: Accepted _____ Rejected____<\/p>\n<p><strong>Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Many small-fry landlords never grow up to become big-shot landlords, because they never learn to do business like a grown-up. Professionalism is mandatory. Think like a pro, act like a pro, be a pro. It&#8217;s vital to set up systems and procedures and behave like the successful business person you want to become-not the one-home owner you may be at the moment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Success as a landlord depends on screening tenants-weeding out the Naughty and renting to the Nice. Awareness of (and compliance with the Fair Housing Act is not only necessary, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5183],"tags":[190,416,570,2898,2897],"class_list":["post-772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-landlording","tag-landlord","tag-rental","tag-renter","tag-tenant-screening","tag-tenant-selection"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}