Why You Should Have Rental Criteria
Landlord Tip – Why You Should Have Rental Criteria
Rental criteria are crucial for every landlord. They help you quickly identify prospects and applicants who have trouble paying the rent on time and in full every month.
Having written guidelines also keeps you within the Fair Housing Guidelines. Your screening process should be transparent so that you can easily defend yourself from a claim of discrimination. Your written guidelines should be fair and objective so that every prospect and applicant is treated consistently and fairly.
A detailed rental criteria checklist provides you with:
- Standard guidelines.
- Fair and objective review.
- Takes the emotion out of the process.
- Makes it easier to make a decision with specific guidelines and criteria.
Freedom from possible discrimination accusations.
Examples of Written Guidelines
Written guidelines don’t have to be complicated. Suggested guidelines include:
- Rental income guideline of 3x the rent.
- A job history requirement.
- A rental history requirement.
- Credit score requirement.
- An eviction filing process.
- Conviction history.
These are common rental criteria to have. The more strict your guidelines are, the harder it will be to qualify a tenant. For lower end properties, you will need to have more lenient guidelines. If you have nicer properties, you can have higher criteria to get better tenants.
Your goal should always be to find a great tenant who has a proven track record of paying their rent and their other bills on time and in full each and every month.
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