What Background Checks Do Landlords Do?

In most cases, when applying to rent an apartment, house, or other property from a landlord or property management company, a prospective tenant will need to agree to a background check. Landlords use these screenings to learn more about their applicants and make educated guesses about their risk and how the tenants suit the rudiments of existing renters.

Landlords typically want tenants who can pay the monthly rent on time, be safe and trustworthy neighbors, and respect the property. Tenant background checks are geared toward finding tenants who meet these expectations. 

Tenant Background Checks: What They Include

Landlords may handle their tenant background screening processes differently. However, in most cases, a tenant background check will focus on five primary areas.

• Criminal History: Most landlords will check the criminal histories of their candidates. The goal is to determine whether the housing applicant has a background that might risk the safety of other residents or the property and its surroundings. Violent crimes, sexual offenses, drug offenses, arson, theft, and destruction of property are all issues that might lead a landlord to disqualify an applicant. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has stated that landlords should accept candidates based on arrests that lack corresponding convictions.
• Credit History: Some landlords consider credit scores. Others pay closer attention to the nuances of a candidate’s credit history to determine why an applicant might have a low credit score. In any case, credit scores are a focus in most tenant background screening processes. The general assumption is that a candidate with a good credit score will be more reliable about paying their rent on time every month.

• Employment: Some landlords conduct full employment history background checks, while others will only seek proof of current occupation and income. The landlord may request a copy of a tenant’s pay stub or most recent tax return or they may contact the applicant’s employer to confirm employment. While there’s no blanket ban on contacting employers, landlords must tread carefully to avoid violating Fair Housing Laws. Focusing on verifiable documentation provided by the applicant is safer and more reliable.

• Identity and address history: It isn’t uncommon for landlords to conduct Social Security Number verification on their candidates. These checks can verify identity, reveal aliases and alternate names, and provide address history details. A landlord might use this information to flesh out the criminal background screening process.

• Rental history and evictions: Housing applications will sometimes include a section for prospective tenants to list their rental histories, including locations and the names of landlords or property managers. This information is central to the reference check part of the tenant background screening, during which prospective landlords contact former landlords to ask whether the applicant was a quality tenant. This part of the process might also involve county civil background checks to search for a history of evictions.

By conducting tenant background checks spanning these five categories, landlords can determine whether they expect a tenant to be reliable, respectful, and safe. Since landlords rent out property they own to people they don’t know, these checks are an important safeguard. They are also necessary due diligence to protect other tenants and nearby neighbors from potentially dangerous people and situations.

Again, landlords must remain abreast of regulations and laws regarding their state’s criminal and credit background checks for potential tenants. Each state has its own set of tenant protection laws, including the Fair Housing Act, Fair Chance Act, and the Second Chance Act, which focuses on helping formerly incarcerated individuals find housing.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) currently forbids landlords from discriminating against applicants based on protected classes like race, religion, or national origin. Landlords must also be cognizant of informed consent requirements before ordering background checks.

Effective September 2024, we discontinued offering services for tenant and related credit screening. Due to the rapidly growing regulatory burdens, our future offerings will focus on our core market. However, the information above provides guidance and advice for tenants and landlords.