Find a manager who knows how to screen prospective renters.  It is my experience that not enough time is spent discussing this between landlords and property managers.  The property management company should have a written policy that is given to prospective renters.  Do you agree with the policy?  Beware if there is no policy!   A property management company could be discriminating without even doing it intentionally.  Is the written policy adhered to? How are exceptions made? Does the broker or a supervisor review every decision?

Be careful of requiring the property manager to contact you prior to accepting a new resident.  This is a recipe for a fair housing complaint.  You should have enough confidence in your property manager to allow them to make the decision.  If the prospective renter meets the minimum criteria, why would the owner need to be involved?  It only opens the door for a problem if the owner disagrees with the property manager's decision. 

Items that you can set up prior to the search for a renter are minimum income levels (3 times the monthly rent is typical, 2 times in lower income areas), rental history required or prior ownership, and credit history.  Some property managers outsource this whole process and others do it in house.  HomePointe Property Management, my company in Sacramento, runs a credit report online and then we do our own discovery to verify income and rental/ownership history. 

Some of the items you can preset as conditions are your pet policy (be careful, you must accept service pets with no deposit!), deposit levels (different states have different restrictions), smoking policy, and the number of persons allowed in the rental (be careful to follow fair housing guidelines).  Note that you should not set a number of children allowed. 

Some companies run criminal background checks and some do not.  Each company makes it's own determination as to the need for a criminal background check.  The rule is to treat each renter the same, either run them for all prospective renters or do not run them for any prospective renters. 

There are many rules to follow in screening for renters.  Make sure your property manager has a good track record! 

NEXT:  Part 4 Maintenance Concerns & Property Management and other Fees.