As part of your rental listing setup, you can choose to create a prescreening questionnaire of up to 11 questions. The questions are predefined, you simply need to toggle on or off to select the questions that you want to ask. You can select as many or as few of the questions as you like.

Tenants will be asked to answer these questions when they hit “Begin Application” on your Landlord Studio rental listing.

Once they complete the questionnaire you’ll get an email notification, and all of their information will be displayed on the rental listings applications page.

On desktop you can access your applications from the main menu under "Applications". Then click on the relevant tenant to show their answers.

If they meet your minimum criteria you can then click, “Start Background Check” to run a tenant screening report as a final step of their application.

Once you’ve selected the perfect tenant, send them the current lease document to sign, and set up the lease details in the Landlord Studio to track the lease, the income, and expenses, and start collecting rent from your new tenant.

Note: If the tenant meets your minimum criteria you can then run a tenant screening report by clicking on “Start Background Check”. Learn more about managing rental applications and running background checks here.

1. What length of lease are you looking for?

This question aims to determine if the tenant is willing to commit to the lease length that you are offering.

2. Why are you moving?

This question is to highlight any potential issues they have had with their renting history in the past. They may, for example, have fallen out with their current landlord, they may move about a lot for work, or perhaps they are simply looking for a larger house.

3. What is your household monthly income (approximate)?

Ideally, tenants will have a household income of at least three times the monthly rent. If you are renting to a group of people you should ensure the total household income meets your minimum requirements.

4. Have you ever been evicted?

Tenants that have previously been evicted are statistically much more likely to go through an eviction again. If the tenant selects yes to this option it may be worth getting more details.

5. Do you have pets? If so what kind?

Whether or not you allow pets in your rental is up to you. However, it’s a good idea to have a strict pet policy either way which, if you do allow them, may include additional pet fees or a deposit to cover the additional damage to a rental that pets can cause.

6. Do you or anyone you’re living with smoke or vape?

Smoking indoors causes stains to walls and ceilings and leaves an odor that is very hard to get out of soft furnishings and carpets. Vaping indoors can result in a sticky residue that is hard to clean from surfaces and soft furnishings.

7. What date would you like to move?

Ideally, you want to keep vacancy periods to a minimum so it makes sense to choose a tenant that can move in as soon as your current tenant moves out.

8. What is your estimated credit score?

A good credit score is an indication of their financial responsibility. You will double-check this score when you run your tenant screening report through Landlord Studio.

9. Do you have a criminal history?

Some historical criminal behavior can be an indication of the past that may require further investigation.

10. Have you filed for bankruptcy in the last 7 years?

Individuals who have previously filed for bankruptcy may be more prone to do so again. If a tenant answers yes to this it's a good idea to get a better understanding of why so that you can feel confident that it won't happen again.

11. Are there any issues I should know about before running a background screening for the adults in the household?

This gives your tenants to bring to your attention and explain any specific details that they know will be red flags for their application.

We have selected these questions based on the factors that you are allowed to judge prospective tenants which are:

If you have a question you think would make a good addition to this list please reach out to us at help@landlordstudio.com