Applicant Screening Standards

Any person at least 18 years of age who will reside in the unit AND/OR who will make, or guarantee rent payments, for the person(s) living in the unit, must apply, qualify, and sign the lease. Online or certified payment of $25 per applicant must be submitted with each application for it to be considered. Refunds for application fees may be provided ONLY when the 3rd party background screening has not been performed, at management’s discretion. Leases are provided on a 1st approved- 1st served basis and applicant will be allowed a reasonable amount of time to sign and pay lease fee(s). If the circumstances of the showing process have reasonably precluded management from determining that the applicant desires to proceed with a lease, management may opt not to run background screening and/or otherwise approve an applicant until such information is explicitly provided.

In addition to verifying applicant(s) income and housing history using 3rd party documentation ONLY, Real Property Management utilizes a 3rd party screening platform designed to promote fairness and to eliminate as much discretionary decision-making from the approval/denial process as possible. Once the screening is performed, the system will automatically provide a decision based on the following categories: Credit History, Rental History,
Criminal History. A Denial in any one category will results in a Denial of that application.

Income: The income listed on the application will be used by the screening platform to make one of two income-based decision (listed below). Prior to the screening, Management must be able to verify independently via 3rd party documentation the amount and stability of the applicant’s income, min. 1 month (ie. 2 most recent pay stubs if paid bi-weekly). For those self-employed, business license, previous year’s tax records, bank records or a list of client references may be requested/reviewed. If applicants receive aid and zero taxes are taken out prior to the applicant receiving the funds (SSI, SSI Disability, Etc.), management will gross the amount up by taking the monthly amount and divide by .765. For example, if an applicant receives $735 per month from Social Security, their gross monthly income from that source would be $960.78. For recent employment changes where pay history has yet to be established, Management may elect to accept an official offer letter on company letterhead signed by all parties, but it must show anticipated pay (i.e. pay rate AND hours if applicable).

• Approved: The combined gross income of all applicants is at least 3X the monthly rent rate of the unit
  for which they have applied OR ALL applicants each produce a qualified cosigner OR applicant is able to pay a minimum of 6 months rent up front from a source verified by Management as legal and legitimate.
• Denied: The combined gross income of all applicants is determined to be less than 3X the monthly rent rate of the unit for which they have applied.

Credit History: A credit report is pulled for each applicant. This refers to credit score, total debts, items in collection, past due payments, past due utility accounts, major judgements or liens against the applicant, and bankruptcies. Management does not take Medical Collections into consideration.
• Approved: Credit Score of 600 or higher with no conditions below
• Approved w/ Conditions:

• 2 or more NON-Medical collection accounts over $300 will require an additional 50% of standard security deposit (maximum of 5 unrelated).
• 1 or more utility accounts that are in collection OR currently greater than 59 days past due will require an additional 50% of standard security deposit (maximum of 2 unrelated).
• 1 or more tax liens and/or judgements will require an additional 50% of standard security deposit (maximum of 2 unrelated).
• 1 or more discharged bankruptcies within last 10 years will require an additional 50% of standard security deposit (maximum of 2).
• 2 or more credit charge offs will require an additional 50% of standard security deposit.
• Applicant may elect to use a qualified cosigner in lieu of up to 2 increased deposit conditions.
• If applicant does not have any trades that are “Paid as Agreed,” or otherwise does not return a credit score, they will require a qualified cosigner.
• All monthly mortgage payments will be added to the income requirement unless applicant can provide a proof of pending sale or a valid lease.
• If applicant credit history is returned unverifiable for any reason, they will be required to provide a qualified cosigner.
• If “Estimated Monthly Payment” indicated on screening report is over $1,000, the income requirement will be increase by the “Estimated Monthly Payment” amount.

• Denied:

• If applicant is subject to more than 3 of the above Approval Conditions.
• If applicant surpassed any maximum adverse credit item as indicated above.
• Applicant is currently in open bankruptcy proceedings.

**Qualified cosigner is a person whose income and background screening (minus Criminal History) would qualify them for the unit as a sole applicant.

Rental History:
• Approved (must meet all):

• No eviction judgements within last 5 years or monies owed to previous landlord
•  No Landlord – Tenant Dispute(s) on screening report
•  Credit score of 600 or higher
• Approved w/ conditions (must meet all):
• No eviction judgements within last 5 years or monies owed to previous landlord.
• Credit score of 599 or lower requires a minimum 1 year of satisfactory housing history OR a qualified cosigner. Housing history is verified via direct outreach to the verified OWNER or AGENT of the property directly.
• Landlord Tenant Dispute without judgement requires no money owed to be verified via direct outreach to the listed OWNER or AGENT directly.

• Denied: Any eviction judgements within the last 5 years or monies owed to previous landlord.

Criminal History: A nationwide criminal background investigation is performed to check for any court records and criminal activity, as well as other legal issues.

Applicant may not have any NON-traffic related felony convictions in the last 7 years, OR any misdemeanor convictions relating to violent criminal offenses, crimes against property, or drug trafficking (manufacturing or distribution) within the last 5 years. Cases not concluded will need to await conviction. Time spent incarcerated does not count towards year limit.

Applicants in the National Sex Offender registry will be denied for any multi-family dwelling.

Multiple Applications: When 2 or more individuals are applying as co-tenants, their application packages are subject to a few conditions and/or exceptions.
• One Denied application in a group for Criminal or Rental History will result in all applications Denied.
• If the majority of the applicants in a group are Approved in the Credit History category, the group is exempt from any Approval Conditions incurred by the minority applicants. This exemption also applies to any Landlord Verification conditions incurred by Rental History category.
• A non-verified applicant may be exempted from any qualified cosigner requirements in the Credit History category if the other applicant(s) in the group obtain the required income without them.

Rental History Appeal: Applicant may appeal a Rental History Denial for an eviction if the eviction was filed for rent owed only, and applicant has verifiable documentation of full judgement satisfaction. In such cases the applicant will require 2X the standard security deposit AND a qualified cosigner. Note that the applicant is still subject to the other screening categories.

Criminal History Appeal: Applicant may appeal a Criminal History denial if it was made because of an expunged or dismissed offense. In such cases applicant must provide court documentation to substantiate