Tennant screening and saying No

Greenville, North Carolina
Tenant Screening
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Tennant screening and saying No

Anthony BaileyPro Member
Member since 2025 · 8 posts · 7 votes

Hello, we just purchased our first rental and have a couple that is very interested.  Would like to know your thoughts.  (B area).  We have only had them complete the screening questionnaire.  Would you proceed to application or just day no.  What do you tell them when saying no.  Are we allowed to say "you do not meet our credit score requirement"

Rent $1725

1st applicant:   Credit score 550, income $3400

2nd applicant : 600,  $3040

Neither one of them could afford on their own.  They are currently not living together but older and have teenage kids. 

What would you do/say?

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Richard F.
Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
5mo

Per the Fair Credit Reporting Act, any denial based on a report, such as credit report, from a third party must include a written "Adverse Action Letter", informing of the reasons for denial and source of the information (credit report) used. Here is a link to the Act, and here is a link to a sample AA Letter. The form C-1, Parts 1 and 2 is is ideal. 

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  • Richard F.
    Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    5mo

    Per the Fair Credit Reporting Act, any denial based on a report, such as credit report, from a third party must include a written "Adverse Action Letter", informing of the reasons for denial and source of the information (credit report) used. Here is a link to the Act, and here is a link to a sample AA Letter. The form C-1, Parts 1 and 2 is is ideal. 

    1Reply
  • Anthony BaileyPro Member
    OP
    Member since 2025 · 8 posts · 7 votes
    5mo

    Thank you for this information and for the links!

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  • Janice Carter
    Real Estate Broker · Atlanta · Member since 2024 · 1k+ posts · 604 votes
    5mo

    Anthony, since you did not pull the reports and the information was provided by the prospects, you can simply let them know they do not meet your minimum requirements. Your tenant criteria should always be clearly disclosed upfront and if it wasn’t, you will need to establish your minimum requirements and apply them consistently to all applicants moving forward.

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    • Richard F.
      Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
      5mo
      Quote from @Janice Carter:

      Anthony, since you did not pull the reports and the information was provided by the prospects, you can simply let them know they do not meet your minimum requirements. Your tenant criteria should always be clearly disclosed upfront and if it wasn’t, you will need to establish your minimum requirements and apply them consistently to all applicants moving forward.

      You are assuming the applicants provided the score, but it is not stated as such. Nonetheless, would you then deny a "couple" showing over $6400 "income" with an otherwise rather ambiguous set of circumstances? 

      I have posted repeatedly, elsewhere on these forums, that the score alone is largely meaningless. What is important are the factors that result in those scores. Beyond that, what do the other areas of their lives look like...banking, court records, employment, etc.? There is far more to screening for quality tenants than just relying on an arbitrary score. You miss a lot of good Tenants when your process is oversimplified.
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  • Janice Carter
    Real Estate Broker · Atlanta · Member since 2024 · 1k+ posts · 604 votes
    5mo

    @Richard F. I am not assuming. See the quote below that was taken from the OP post:

    "We have only had them complete the screening questionnaire. Would you proceed to application or just day no."

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  • Anthony BaileyPro Member
    OP
    Member since 2025 · 8 posts · 7 votes
    5mo

    Thanks you both for your input.  We were provided the score by the applicants.  We did send them the application so that we can gather more information and check their references.  

    Appreciate your input

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  • Jim Johnson
    Real Estate Agent · Memphis · Member since 2026 · 543 posts · 315 votes
    5mo

    I’d separate this into two parts — qualification and communication.

    On qualification, the combined income is borderline for that rent, and neither applicant qualifies independently. Add in the credit profiles, and you’re looking at multiple layers of risk stacking at once — not just one variable.

    Most consistent operators I’ve seen don’t make exceptions in that scenario. The issue isn’t this specific applicant — it’s what happens to your process if you start bending criteria early on.

    On communication, you want to keep it objective and tied to your written standards. Something along the lines of:

    “We apply the same screening criteria to all applicants, including income, credit, and overall qualification standards. Based on that, we’re not able to move forward with this application.”

    You can reference minimum requirements if they ask (credit, income ratio, etc.), but it’s important that those standards are documented and applied consistently across every applicant.

    The key early on is protecting your process. One exception at the front end usually creates bigger issues on the back end.

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  • Melanie ThomasBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · San Antonio · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 489 votes
    5mo

    Big thing here…have a written screening criteria before you ever take an application, and have applicants acknowledge it upfront.

    That way it’s not subjective, it’s just: do they meet it or not.

    Based on what you shared, they likely wouldn’t meet most standard criteria (income + credit), so I personally wouldn’t move forward to application.

    When declining, keep it simple:

    • “Unfortunately, you do not meet our rental criteria.”

    If they do apply and are denied, send an adverse action letter outlining the reason (credit, income, etc.) so it’s clear and compliant.

    Screening is not something to wing…getting it wrong gets expensive fast.

    Happy to share my screening criteria if you want to message me 👍

    [email protected]
    RentWerx Property Management4.73296 Reviews
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