Application Processing and Tenant Screening
We know what you’re thinking, “my renter screening process is the best! Why should I trust your process?” In this article we’ll discuss best practices of renter screenings, and what Sunroom has done to enhance screenings to give your investor clients more protection.
We know that finding a quality renter who pays on time is the most important piece of getting the leasing process right. We treat every listing like it's our own, which means we uphold a very thorough screening process to find you the best renters possible for your property. We also always give you and your client total control over which applicants you approve or deny. Your comfort with the applicants and the approval process is our top priority.
First, we’ve leased thousands of homes and built proprietary technology. We follow the real estate industry standard when we screen applicants, including TAR applications, background checks, credit checks (TransUnion), and verifying any pets. Then we go a step further. We make phone calls to employers and previous landlords to verify income and on-time rent payments.
We understand that application review and tenant screening can be a painstaking process. We've got it down to a science, so nothing falls through the cracks. Sunroom has a team working on application reviews and tenant screening 7 days a week, which is why we're both fast and thorough.
Photo: The criteria you can set for your property that Sunroom will use to process applicants
Below are the renter criteria options you can choose from:
We use this set of criteria to find you the best possible renter, which means we are only going to send you applicants that meet your criteria. Applicants are reminded of the criteria and asked to confirm they met them before they apply. We recommend you adjust the criteria you set if you'd like to see more applicants to review.
After a renter completes a tour, the Sunroom team reaches out to them (repeatedly if needed) to submit an application. Before they apply, they are reminded of the criteria you set so that we are processing only the best potential renters.
Sunroom uses a standard TAR (Texas Association Realtors) application. We send the renter a link to fill out their personal information and they give us permission to run a background check and credit check. Every renter 18 years of age or older must fill out an application.
We use TransUnion to run credit and background checks on applicants. The Sunroom team will contact the applicants’ current landlord and current employer to run verification checks. If everything from the application, background check, credit check, and verification check looks good, we will send the applicant to you to approve or deny.
We send you qualified renters based on a first-qualified basis. Sunroom does first-qualified to make sure the process is as fast, streamlined, and cost-effective as possible. You will have a backlog of other applicants if you decide to deny the first applicant that we send you.
You will be notified of new applicants as soon as they complete significant steps, like completing an application, being tentatively qualified, and are fully verified by our team. The moment someone completes an application, you will be notified and you will be able to see the applicant on the listing page of your partner portal. Once an applicant is "tentatively qualified", it means we've completed a credit check and a background check. When an applicant is truly verified, it means we've talked to their employer and previous landlord and reviewed their paystub photos.
You don't necessarily have to wait for the whole screening and verification process to be completed. You have the ability to approve or deny applicants even before all information is in.
Photo: The summary of a renter's application and verification in your partner portal that you can approve or deny
As a partner, you can choose if you’d like to consider contingencies for applicants that don’t meet all of the requirements, like allowing a guarantor. If an applicant has a lower credit score or lower-income to rent ratio, you can easily go into your app to approve them with a condition that they pay a higher security deposit or higher rent.
Photo: Increasing the security deposit amount if renter applicants don't fit all of your criteria
We have a double verification process to make sure you are approving the right applicant. Once you approve an applicant from your partner portal, we will ask you to confirm the approval.
Photo: Confirming your approval of an applicant for your property
Once you confirm your approval of the applicant, we will start the security deposit collection and lease drafting. There are two options to collect the security deposit from the renter.
