Thank you for considering one of our rental properties! Please review this rental screening criteria before applying. We care deeply about placing tenants in our properties who will be financially comfortable in their homes, since we never want anyone to struggle to pay rent or utilities. As such, we have strict screening criteria, as we don’t want anyone to pay for an application unless it is likely that they will be approved. Please note that we do not profit from your application fees- they are used only to run the required credit/background reports. Thank you for your understanding.
Please be aware that all applications are evaluated in their entirety based on objective and subjective criteria. We do not have a blanket exclusion policy for eviction or credit, however we still do review credit factors and eviction records* as part of our process. Applicants with poor credit or recent evictions are not automatically denied, but may be subject to other requirements, such as a cosigner, a higher amount in savings, or other requirements. We reserve the right to update our screening criteria from time to time. Each applicant is given an individualized application assessment, based on the following objective and subjective factors:
General Requirements:
1. Each adult (18 years or older) must fill out a rental application and apply for a credit, eviction and criminal background check. We will send you a link to do this securely online and pay directly for your reports. This is the only fee that you will be charged- we do not collect application fees. Please note that, due to an uptick in fraud, we cannot accept credit/background reports run previously by others.
2. Each applicant must provide a valid government-issued photo ID that is current and unexpired to prove identity.
3. We have a no smoking and no drugs policy.
4. Occupancy is based on the number of bedrooms per unit and City of Philadelphia limits, but we do not allow more than two people per bedroom of any age.
5. We reserve the right to deny any applicant with a negative personality or rude behavior.
6. Inaccurate, false, or misleading statements made verbally or on the application will result in denial.
7. We require that our renters obtain rental insurance policies providing at least $25,000 of personal property insurance and $300,000 liability insurance to protect Tenant, Tenant’s personal property, and Tenant’s guests who may be injured while on the property. Landlord must be named as additional insurance and the insurance must be maintained throughout the entire term and any renewal term. Tenant must provide proof of insurance and advise of any changes to it within 5 days. (Rental insurance is actually pretty inexpensive!)
8. If a cosigner is required (due to low credit or insufficient rental history), the cosigner will be required to meet all of the rental requirements. In addition, cosigners must also meet one of the following requirements; (1) own real estate in PA or NJ (2) provide proof of funds of at least 6x the monthly rent in their personal name (3) earn at least 5x the rental amount.
9. Please note that we do not allow any subleases without prior written consent. Renting the property with the intention of leasing it as a short-term rental is strictly prohibited; nobody may occupy the property if they are not named in the lease.
10. Preference will be given to applicants who have a move-in date closest to the available date of the unit.
Residence & Rental History:
1. We ask that tenants provide the names and contact information for their two most recent landlords to contact them as housing references. If no housing reference is available other than from parents or relatives, then we may require a cosigner. First time renters may be required to provide a valid cosigner.
2. Rental history that includes unpaid past due rent, damages, or fees, excessive property damage, noise or unruly behavior will result in denial. Per local regulations, we do not consider credit information based upon a failure to pay rent or utility bills during COVID-19 emergency periods.
3. We review evictions in accordance with local regulations and do not take into consideration eviction records based upon: (a) any eviction proceeding pursuant to Pennsylvania law, or other equivalents in other states, that did not result in a judgment in favor of the plaintiff; or (b) any sealed record of an eviction proceeding; or (c) any eviction judgment against the applicant that has been vacated or marked satisfied pursuant to Pennsylvania law; or (d) any eviction case filed, or eviction judgment that was entered, four or more years before the application to rent was submitted; or (e) an eviction proceeding brought against the applicant during the Covid-19 emergency period, other than an eviction based on violent or dangerous criminal activity that resulted in a judgment against the tenant; or (f) any eviction proceeding where a judgment by agreement is currently in place, or where the judgment by agreement has been marked satisfied or vacated, or is otherwise resolved. (If you have an eviction that you believe should be excluded, please indicate this in your application).
Income, Employment, & Financial/Credit History
1. We require sufficient and stable sources of income, and, as a minimum, generally approximately 3x the amount of the monthly rent, however other liabilities and credit will be taken into consideration. To verify income, we request documentation such as bank statements, tax returns, and paystubs demonstrating income for the past two years.
2. We ask for an employment reference to verify current and stable employment.
3. Retired and unemployed individuals must be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient resources to pay living expenses.
4. We review credit history on a wholistic individualized basis. In general, a stronger credit history will be more likely to be approved. We do not consider non-payment of rent or utilities during COVID-19 emergency periods so please indicate if there is anything in your credit report applicable to this so that we can exclude it from our analysis.
Criminal History
1. We believe in second chances. We review criminal history on an individualized basis, taking into account the severity of the crime, the length of time since the crime occurred, and demonstration of good employment history, credit and rental history since the time of the crim.
Pets:
1. Pets are accepted on a case-by-case basis, with no more than two pets permitted per unit.
2. A $300 non-refundable pet fee is required for the first animal, and $100 for the second. Pet rent of $20/pet per month is required.
3. All animals must have a current rabies vaccine per PA law.
4. All pets must be housebroken. Tenant will be liable for any damage or pet odor.
5. The pet policy does not apply to support animals.
How to Submit an Application
1. If you are interested in submitting an application, please contact us so that we can send it to you. We will need the full name and email address of each person over the age of 18 in order to send the link for the credit/background report. Your application is not considered complete until we have all of the information requested.
2. We will contact you via email within 3 business days once the application is reviewed. Based on the information provided, we may request additional documentation. If your application is approved, you will be able to hold the property by submitting a non-refundable deposit (typically one month’s rent) within 3 business days.
3. Applications are reviewed in the order in which they are received, but are only approved once 100% of the information requested is received by us.
4. Please review other information here.
*Uniform Screening Criteria and Related Disclosures:
We comply with all Fair Housing Laws, national and local regulations. As per Philadelphia bills 210329-A and 210330-A, we have adopted the following prospective applicant screening policies:
· We provide a uniform rental screening criteria, posted on our website, which specifies all of the objective and subjective criteria that we use to evaluate prospective tenants.
· We do not have a blanket exclusion policy for credit or eviction, but rather evaluate applications in their entirety to provide an individualized assessment based upon all of our criteria.
· We do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, age, source of income, familial status, or domestic violence victim status.
· We review applications promptly and provide any denied applicants an email with the reasons for denial.
· We do not consider the prohibited screening criteria of:
o Credit information based upon a failure to pay rent or utility bills during COVID19 emergency periods. ***Please inform us if any of these criteria apply to your application.***
o Eviction records based upon: (a) any eviction proceeding pursuant to Pennsylvania law, or other equivalents in other states, that did not result in a judgment in favor of the plaintiff; or (b) any sealed record of an eviction proceeding; or (c) any eviction judgment against the applicant that has been vacated or marked satisfied pursuant to Pennsylvania law; or (d) any eviction case filed, or eviction judgment that was entered, four or more years before the application to rent was submitted; or (e) an eviction proceeding brought against the applicant during the Covid-19 emergency period, other than an eviction based on violent or dangerous criminal activity that resulted in a judgment against the tenant; or (f) any eviction proceeding where a judgment by agreement is currently in place, or where the judgment by agreement has been marked satisfied or vacated, or is otherwise resolved. ***Please inform us if any of these criteria apply to your application.***
Links to Disclosures (please click on each to review):
Partners for Good Housing Brochure (City of Philadelphia)
Protect Your Family from Lead (EPA)
Tenant Lead Flyer (City of Philadelphia)
A Guide to Bed Bug Safety (City of Philadelphia)