A landlord rejected every applicant below 700, then wondered why units sat empty while good tenants with thin files rented elsewhere.
A good credit range for tenant screening is the score band a landlord treats as acceptable, usually with context from income, rental history, and references, rather than a single cutoff. Most landlords work in bands, not in one magic number.
A landlord rejected every applicant below 700 and watched units sit empty while good tenants with thin files rented elsewhere, and this article finds the range that fills units without inviting risk.
You will see common score bands, how to set criteria, and how to handle thin files and strong files fairly. The sections that follow give the details in order, with numbers you can check.
What Is the Short Answer?
Treat scores of 670 and above as strong, 580 to 669 as review with extra checks, and below 580 as high risk needing strong income, references, or a guarantor.
Bands, not a single cutoff, make fair screening.
A score is a summary of payment history, and it never shows income, rental history, or the reason behind a missed payment, so read it with the full application.
The sections ahead test each score band against vacancy time, with the 40 dollar screening fee weighed against the empty weeks a 700 cutoff creates.
What Do the Score Bands Mean?
Scores from 800 to 850 are exceptional, 740 to 799 very good, 670 to 739 good, 580 to 669 fair, and below 580 poor, on the common 300 to 850 scale. Most tenants fall in the good and fair bands, so a cutoff at 700 rejects a large share of ordinary renters, including many with perfect rental histories.
Use bands to trigger review, not automatic rejection, because a fair score with strong income and references often outperforms a good score with weak income.
That step matters because it turns a one time decision into a repeatable habit. A habit is what keeps this working when the month gets busy. Review the point at the start of each month, note any change in a dated line, and adjust the next step before a small issue grows into a large one.
How Should Income Change the Decision?
Income at three times the rent is a common standard, and strong income can offset a fair score, while weak income makes even a good score risky. Verify income from pay slips, bank statements, or employer confirmation, because stated income without proof is the most common application weakness.
Consider total monthly debts alongside income, because a tenant earning well but carrying heavy debts has less room for rent than the salary suggests.
Income at three times the rent is a common standard, and strong income can offset a fair score, while weak income makes even a good score risky. Verify income from pay slips, bank statements, or employer confirmation, because stated income without proof is the most common application weakness. Weigh score and verified income together, never score alone.
Score bands trigger review, income and history decide.
How Do You Handle Thin or Missing Files?
Young renters, newcomers, and cash payers often have thin files, and a missing score is not the same as a bad score. For thin files, weigh rental history, references, bank statements, and a larger deposit where the law allows it, instead of rejecting on absence alone.
Document the alternative checks used, because a thin file decision made without notes looks arbitrary later.
Young renters, newcomers, and cash payers often have thin files, and a missing score is not the same as a bad score. For thin files, weigh rental history, references, bank statements, and a larger deposit where the law allows it, instead of rejecting on absence alone. Document the alternative checks you used, so the decision reads as fair.
How Do You Write Fair Criteria?
Write the score bands, income multiple, eviction history rule, and review step before advertising, and give the same criteria to every applicant. Apply the criteria in the same order every time, and record the reason for each decision in the file, because consistency is the defence against bias claims.
Review criteria yearly against your actual tenancy outcomes, because criteria that reject good tenants cost vacancy, and criteria that accept bad ones cost evictions.
Write the score bands, income multiple, eviction history rule, and review step before advertising, and give the same criteria to every applicant. Apply the criteria in the same order every time, and record the reason for each decision in the file, because consistency is the defence against bias claims. Fair criteria, applied in order, protect everyone.
How Do You Get Started This Week?
Start with the smallest complete version, not the perfect version. A simple system used this week beats a perfect system planned for next month.
Pick one property, apply the steps in this guide to that property only, and write down what worked and what took longer than expected.
Once the first property runs smoothly for a month, roll the same steps out to the rest of the portfolio, one property at a time. Errors stay small when rollout is gradual. Lessons from the first property carry over to every later one.
Set a calendar reminder for the monthly review on the same day rent is due. A review tied to rent day is a review that actually happens.
Lower the cutoff for the next vacancy and screen the full file, because another month empty costs more than the 40 dollar check that approves a good tenant.
What Should You Review Every Quarter?
Each quarter, compare the last three months against the quarter before. Ask which cost rose, which income fell, and which task took the most time. Those three answers set the next quarter priorities.
Each quarter, compare days vacant against the score band of the tenants who actually moved in, and adjust the cutoff when thin-file tenants keep paying. A cutoff never revisited fills the building with empty months, not with tenants.
File the quarterly review with the tenancy records, with dates and decisions, because a filed review is evidence of care, while a remembered review is not.
A Practical Checklist
Set the cutoff by the vacancy cost, not by a round number, and judge every applicant below 700 by income, rental history, and debts together. A single score never shows the tenant who pays on time with a thin file.
Confirm the numbers in writing before acting, whether they are rent, fees, dates, or limits. Most disputes start with a number nobody confirmed. A confirmed number is a dispute prevented.
Photograph, file, and date every important step, and send the tenant a copy where the step affects them, because shared records prevent most arguments.
Review the result after thirty days, keep what worked, and change what did not. Note the change, because a system that never changes slowly stops fitting.
Keep a copy of this checklist with the lease file, and review it at renewal, because a checklist reviewed yearly stays useful.
A Numbered Example: What a Fair Range Saves
Take Grace, who spends 40 dollars on one screening report for a single applicant Rent is 1450 dollars a month, and the year starts with a clear plan instead of a scramble at tax time.
Step 1: Spend 40 dollars on setup.
Step 2: Pay 0 dollars a month, which is 0 dollars over the year, so the full cost is 40 dollars. Write that total down, because the benefit must beat it clearly.
Step 3: Avoid a 4800 dollar loss that is eviction and vacancy cost from a tenancy a score only decision would have missed or wrongly approved.
Step 4: Save 4 hours of work at 30 dollars an hour, worth 120 dollars. Time saved is money saved, once it is priced honestly.
Step 5: Compare 4920 dollars of benefit with 40 dollars of cost.
The net result is 4880 dollars in favour of doing it properly. That figure comes from 4920 dollars minus 40 dollars. It grows in later years when the setup cost does not repeat.
How Do the Rules Change by State?
Screening criteria law varies by state, because some states limit the score or history a landlord may use, some cap fees, and some cities add source of income protections.
State rules change the deadline, the form, and the penalty, so a step that is safe in one state can fail in another. In California, screening rules limit fees and require notices, in New York, application and screening rules are strict, and in Texas, landlords have wider criteria freedom but still face federal fair housing law. How long the eviction process really takes shows why timing and records matter together when a tenancy turns difficult.
Federal fair housing law applies in every state, without exception.
What Does Doing Nothing Cost You?
Doing nothing, and screening by gut feeling, costs discrimination complaints, bad tenancies, and vacancies from criteria that reject good renters.
One bad tenancy on a 1,450 dollar unit can cost 1,450 dollars of lost rent plus 1,500 dollars of turnover and court costs, before stress is counted. When a tenancy must end, Notice to vacate rules set the timeline that protects the remaining rent.
Add the hours as well as the dollars. A problem that costs 500 dollars and twenty hours of landlord time is a 1,100 dollar problem at 30 dollars an hour, and most landlords count only the dollars.
What Mistakes Should You Avoid?
Do not set a cutoff so high that ordinary renters cannot pass, because vacancy from overstrict criteria costs more than careful review.
Do not ignore a score entirely, because payment history is real evidence, even when it is not the whole story.
The most expensive mistake is usually the quiet one. The step skipped, the record not kept, or the message not sent compounds quietly, while loud mistakes get fixed fast.
Common Questions
What score is good enough? Generally 670 and above is strong, 580 to 669 deserves review, and below 580 needs strong offsetting factors.
Can you accept a low score with a guarantor? Yes, where the law allows it, with the guarantor checked and documented the same way.
How long does it take to set this up properly? Usually one focused afternoon for the first property, then under an hour a month to keep it running, because setup is the hard part and maintenance is the easy part.
What is the first step if the 700 cutoff still rules? Approve the next applicant on income plus rental history instead of score alone. Review the cutoff again after that tenancy, because one filled unit proves more than a year of empty ones.
The Bottom Line
Use score bands, verify income, weigh rental history, and document every decision against written criteria. When a tenancy ends badly, Eviction process: A Step-by-Step Guide for Tenants explains what follows, step by step.
A fair credit range fills units with tenants who pay, and it keeps the landlord on the right side of the law while doing it.
Start this week, with the first step in this guide, and let the results build from there.
