Sara listed her two bedroom rental and received twelve applications in three days. One applicant had a polished letter, a friendly phone manner, and an eviction she never mentioned. The screening report found it in minutes, and Sara moved to the next applicant instead of spending months in court.
TurboTenant tenant screening is an online check that pulls a credit report, criminal history, and eviction history for a rental applicant, with the applicant’s permission. The landlord invites the applicant, the applicant authorises the report, and the results arrive in the landlord’s dashboard, usually within a day.
Sara caught a hidden eviction in minutes through one screening report, and this guide reads each part of that report without overreacting to a single number.
You will learn what each part of the report shows, how to read it without overreacting to a single number, and what screening a bad applicant actually saves you. The sections that follow work through the process in order, with a full numbered example at the end.
What Is the Short Answer?
TurboTenant screening gives you a credit score, a credit history summary, a criminal record check, and an eviction history check in one report. You review the report, verify income and references separately, and then decide, because the report informs your decision but never makes it for you.
A report is a tool, not a verdict.
Screening costs the applicant or the landlord a modest fee per report, and it runs only with the applicant’s consent, which the platform collects during the application. No consent means no report, and a landlord who runs one anyway risks a legal problem far larger than any rent.
What Does the Credit Report Show?
The credit report shows a credit score, open accounts, payment history, collections, and total debt, which together show how the applicant handles borrowed money. A score alone never tells the full story, so read payment history next: a tenant who pays every bill on time but carries student debt is a different risk from a tenant with recent collections.
Read the history, not just the score.
Look for patterns rather than single events, because one old medical collection matters less than three recent missed payments. If the score is low, ask what changed, and weigh the answer against pay stubs and references before you decide.
What Does the Criminal and Eviction Check Show?
The criminal check searches records for convictions and relevant offences, while the eviction check searches court records for past eviction filings and judgments. These two checks answer different questions: one about safety, the other about tenancy history, and both need context before they change your decision.
Context turns a record into a decision.
An eviction from eight years ago followed by five clean years of tenancies is not the same as two evictions in the last eighteen months. Apply the same written standard to every applicant, because inconsistent standards create fair housing risk even when your intentions are good.
Ask applicants to explain adverse items before you decide, and keep their explanation with the file. An explanation does not erase a record, but it often explains it, and a landlord who listens makes better decisions than one who only reads scores. A single adverse item should trigger a conversation, not an automatic rejection, unless your written standard says otherwise. Document the explanation and the decision together, so the file shows fairness as well as facts.
How Do You Verify Income and References?
Verify income with recent pay stubs, bank statements, or an employer confirmation, and check that gross monthly income is at least three times the rent. Then call the previous landlord and ask three questions: did the tenant pay on time, did they care for the property, and would you rent to them again?
Three questions, asked every time.
Do not accept a reference letter as a substitute for a call, because letters can be written by anyone, while a live conversation reveals hesitation, detail, and tone. If an employer or landlord cannot be reached after two honest attempts, note the attempt and weigh the gap honestly.
How Do You Get Started This Week?
This week, set up your TurboTenant account, write your screening standard on one page, and add the screening step to your listing so every applicant follows the same path. A written standard protects you twice: it keeps your decisions consistent, and it gives you a clear answer when an applicant asks why they were declined.
A written standard is your best protection.
Tell applicants upfront that screening is part of the process and what fee, if any, they will pay, because surprises at the application stage lose good tenants. Applicants who know the process in advance arrive prepared, and prepared applicants submit cleaner files.
What Should You Review Every Quarter?
Every quarter, review your screening standard against your actual tenant outcomes, and note whether the tenants you approved are paying on time and caring for the property. A standard that approves tenants who later default needs tightening, while a standard that rejects everyone needs loosening.
Quarterly review keeps the standard honest.
Also check that your screening criteria still match current law in your state, because screening rules, fee limits, and lookback periods change. Tenant rights and responsibilities remind landlords that applicants have rights too, and a compliant process protects both sides.
A Practical Checklist
Before you approve any applicant, confirm the report is complete, income is verified at three times rent, the previous landlord was contacted, and the decision matches your written standard. After approval, file the report, the verification notes, and the decision reason together, and keep them for as long as your state requires.
A checklist used every time beats a memory trusted sometimes.
A Numbered Example: What Screening Three Applicants Really Costs
Take Sara, who screens three applicants for a unit renting at 1,300 dollars a month, paying 55 dollars per report.
Step 1: Pay 55 dollars per report for three applicants, which is 165 dollars in total, and receive credit, criminal, and eviction results for each one within a day. The fee is small next to the rent it protects, and it is the cheapest insurance in the whole leasing process.
Step 2: Verify income for the leading applicant, whose gross pay of 3,900 dollars a month is exactly three times the rent of 1,300 dollars, so the income test passes on the number.
Step 3: Find an eviction filing from fourteen months ago on the second applicant’s report, which fails Sara’s written standard of no evictions in the last three years, so that applicant is declined with the reason documented. The file notes the date and the standard, so the decision is easy to defend later.
Step 4: Call the first applicant’s previous landlord, who confirms on time payment for two years and a clean move out, so the first applicant is approved and the lease is signed.
Step 5: Compare the screening cost of 165 dollars with the avoided cost of a bad tenancy, which is two months of missed rent at 2,600 dollars plus a filing fee of 350 dollars plus turnover costs of 800 dollars, for a total of 3,750 dollars, giving a net saving of 3,585 dollars.
The net result is 3,585 dollars saved, from 3,750 dollars of avoided cost minus 165 dollars of screening fees. Screening did not guarantee a perfect tenant, but it removed the one applicant most likely to cost Sara a court case.
How Do the Rules Change by State?
Screening fees, lookback periods, and the records you may consider differ by state, and a standard that is legal in one state can break the law in another. In California, screening fee caps and strict rules on criminal history limit what you can charge and consider. In New York, application fee limits and tenant protection rules narrow the process further. In Texas, the rules are generally lighter, but federal fair housing law still applies everywhere, and it limits every decision you make.
State rules change the deadline, the form, and the penalty, so a step that is safe in one state can fail in another. How long the eviction process really takes shows why timing and written proof matter together when a tenancy turns difficult. Apply one written standard, but check it against each state’s rules before you use it there.
What Does Doing Nothing Cost You?
Doing nothing costs the eviction you could have seen coming, and evictions cost far more than screening ever will. A landlord who skips screening to fill a vacancy fast often fills it with the tenant who costs the most, and the vacancy returns anyway, this time with a court date attached.
A fast fill is not a good fill.
One bad tenancy on Sara’s unit costs 3,750 dollars in missed rent, filing, and turnover, which is more than twenty-two times the 165 dollars screening cost. When a tenancy must end, Notice to vacate rules set the timeline that protects the remaining rent, and a landlord with a documented screening file starts that timeline from strength.
What Mistakes Should You Avoid?
Do not approve an applicant on a credit score alone, because a score hides payment patterns, eviction history, and rental behaviour that the full report reveals. Do not skip the landlord call, because the previous landlord knows things no database does, and that call takes ten minutes.
The most expensive mistake is usually the quiet one.
Do not apply your standard unevenly, because approving one applicant with an eviction while declining another for the same record invites a fair housing complaint. Do not keep screening files scattered, because a decision you cannot document is a decision you cannot defend. Keep the report, the verification notes, and the decision reason in one file, so the file answers any question later.
Common Questions
How long does TurboTenant screening take? Most reports arrive within a day of the applicant authorising them, though court record searches can take longer in some counties.
Who pays the screening fee? Either the landlord or the applicant can pay, depending on your setup and your state’s fee rules, so state the arrangement upfront in the listing.
Can an applicant dispute a report? Yes, and you must give them a chance to explain or correct an error before a final adverse decision, because reports sometimes mix up names or miss updates, and a fair process catches those errors. If the dispute proves the report wrong, rerun the decision on the corrected facts and note the change.
What if the report is thin? A thin report means little history, not bad history, so lean harder on income verification, references, and rental history before you decide, and document what you relied on.
The Bottom Line
Screen every applicant the same way, read the full report, verify income, call the previous landlord, and decide against a written standard. Sara’s 165 dollars saved her 3,585 dollars, and that ratio repeats for every landlord who screens properly.
The landlord who screens buys information, and the landlord who skips it buys risk.
