I’ve given a lot of thought to ‘rental criteria’ lately and began perusing copies of rental applications. Jeeze, there are a bunch of ‘em out there. Some are good, some are bad, and some are flat-out illegal, however considering the litigious nature of our culture landlords/property managers need to be cautious, but NOT discriminatory. A fine and wavery line…and I’m not even sure that I would meet these requirements!
The following is a compilation (maybe country-wide hodgepodge is a better term) of criteria I’ve unearthed for accepting (or rejecting) rental applications. Remember criteria differ from state to state, so always check with your local landlord/property manager/realtor association for confirmation.
In no particular order:
| Lack of steady employment – minimum of ____ (fill in the blank but no less than 12 months, and I saw up to three years) | Application is incomplete | Insufficient credit resources, Poor credit score (less than 500), no credit file, insufficient credit file |
| False or misleading information provided on application | Poor references (employer, past landlord ) | Previous eviction; previous evictions within past ten years |
| Insufficient income – less than 30% of monthly income to cover rent | Unable to verify income sources, employment, or residence | Criminal record, felony conviction, misdemeanor charges including violence, theft, fraud, weapons |
| Foreclosure, suit, garnishment, attachment of wages, repossession, bankruptcy within past five years | Section 8 | Smoking |
| Temporary residence, not enough time spent in current residence, history of moving from one residence to another within a couple of months | Pets | Insufficient funds to cover security deposit, applications/processing fees, first months’ rent |
| No late fees within last 90 days | Family exceeds occupancy limits | Verifiable income must equal 3x rent |
| Unable to provide legitimate photo identification | No co-signers | Unable to provide secondary credit references like utilities |
