Residential Tenant Screening FAQs

• Take professional photos that show the best features of the residential property which may include aerial drone photography or virtual 3D and 2D floor plans. We organize our photos in a way that allows us to communicate a story about your house or multifamily property. Better pictures and a complete listing description attracts better tenants.

• Post the property listing to all relevant websites. For residential leasing we post to the MLS, Zillow, Redfin, Apartments.com and many, many more. We want as many eyeballs as possible on your listing.

• Review applicants that apply and invite only the qualified applicants to the next open house. Open houses that we host are always attended by a property manager or employee of Realicore.

• Meet with qualified applicants at the open house and verify information on their application. Did the tenant say 2 adults, but show up with 4? Did they arrive late to the showing or were they respectful? These are some of the questions that our property managers are trained to ask so that we ensure the highest possibility of finding a reliable and financially responsible tenant who takes care of your property.

• Once we find a tenant that meets all our requirements, we will typically schedule an appointment with the tenant to collect any final information, first month’s rent, their deposit and a pet deposit if applicable. We require all tenants to keep active renter’s insurance to further protect our clients.

• We will then complete a move-in inspection with the tenant so that the current condition of the property is agreed upon by all parties. If everything looks good, we hand over the keys and the tenant can start moving in!

• From here the tenant can communicate with us through our online portal which includes creating maintenance tickets, reviewing their lease, turning on utilities and much more.

If you’d like to read more about our tenant screen process click here.

• 620+ Credit Score

• 2.75x to 3x Rent as Income

• No Criminal or Eviction History

• 2 Referrals (Current Landlord and Current Employer)

• Certain properties may have different requirements.

• We verify income by reviewing pay stubs, bank statements and even tax returns if necessary. We also confirm their income when we call their employer. We require 2.75 to 3 times rent as household income to qualify for one of our properties.

• We complete a full background check including criminal convictions, past evictions, and Megan’s Law database. We do not rent to anyone that shows up on any of these lists. No exceptions.

• We complete a credit check and confirm that the potential tenant has 100% on-time payments for the last 2-3 years at a minimum. We typically require a credit score of 620 or more depending on the property and its location.

• When the potential tenant shows up to view the property, we look for inaccuracies in the application they submitted. We also observe how they treat the property and how they treat the property manager while they tour the house.

• If the applicant has met our requirements up to this point, then we will confirm their requested move-in date is within a reasonable time frame and then call their referrals.

• We call the potential tenant’s previous or current landlord referral to ensure that they paid rent on time and treated the property with respect.

• We call the potential tenant’s current employer to verify employment.

• If a tenant checks all the above boxes and there are no red flags, we will work towards moving that tenant into the property.

• Rent is due by the 1st of each month and if rent is not paid by the 5th, then it is considered late by the 6th. The tenant is automatically charged a late fee to their account. Once rent plus the late fee is collected the late fee goes to our landlord client.

• If a tenant hasn’t paid rent plus their late fee by the 7th our property manager or leasing agent will then deliver a legal 3 Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit to them personally or post to their door if they are not home.

• If the tenant is not communicating, we will usually try to reach them one more time by phone before starting the eviction process.

• We have found that sticking to a strict rent collection and eviction process is in the best interest of the property owner and their property. We are very clear each step of the way with tenants regarding the risk to their credit and eviction record if they do not comply according to the lease agreement they signed.

• Eviction is a last resort action that we take when a tenant has either stopped paying rent, communication is no longer possible, or the tenant is breaking a serious clause of their lease that either puts the property or others’ safety at risk.

• Once we have determined that an eviction is the best course of action, we will contact an eviction attorney and get started on the process. Typically, an eviction attorney requires a 3 Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit to start the eviction process with the courts.

• Tenants have a chance to contest an eviction if they feel is it not a legal eviction. In situations where a tenant has contested an eviction, the eviction costs will typically skyrocket as you will now need to pay the eviction attorney additional money to file more paperwork and show up to court to defend your case. If your property manager is required to provide prelitigation assistance to the attorney or show up to court to defend the eviction that is typically an additional cost as well. Contested evictions typically take 90 days from start to finish depending on the court’s capacity.

• If the eviction goes uncontested you can typically complete an eviction in 60 days without having to defend your case in court.

• Once the court grants judgement in favor of the landlord, it typically takes 1 to 2 weeks for the county sheriff to come out to the property, remove any occupants and watch as you secure the premises.

• Our goal is to avoid an eviction by doing a lot of the groundwork up front by finding a great qualified tenant who respects your property.

• We partner with Steady Rent which provides a type of eviction insurance as well as other services to our landlord clients that help to ease the costs of an eviction. You can read more by clicking here.

• We recommend this service to our landlords with 1 to 4 units. As your portfolio grows, eviction, vacancy and turnover costs are less impactful to your overall portfolio.

• When a tenant’s lease is 60 to 90 days from expiring (Depending on local or state rent control laws), we will reach out to the tenant to see if they want to renew their lease.

• If the tenant wants to renew, we will schedule an inspection of the property to ensure that the condition of the property is acceptable as well as ensure that other clauses of the lease is being followed. If the lease is not being followed, they will be given proper notice and a timeframe in which to fix the issues.

• If the lease issues are resolved and the property has been kept in good condition, we can move forward with renewing their lease.

• Using our access to state-wide rental comparable data, a property manager will check what market rents are for the property and will decide how much to increase rent based on those lease comparables.

• If the tenant agrees to the price increase, we will lease to the tenant for another year.

• If the tenant does not agree to the price increase, they will typically be given 60 days to vacate the property and leave it in the same condition they received it in minus normal wear and tear to receive their deposit back.