If you’ve ever stared at a tenant application wondering whether a 604 is close enough, or if that old collection account is a dealbreaker, you’re not alone. Most landlords we talk to have been there — half-guessing, half-hoping they’re making the right call.
This one’s for rental property owners who want to stop guessing. We’ll walk through what a credit check actually reveals, what the score alone doesn’t tell you, and how to set criteria that protects your investment without leaving your unit empty for two months while you wait for a ghost applicant with a perfect 750.
In This Guide
What Shows Up on a Tenant Credit Report
A credit check pulls a lot more than a single number. When we run a report through Buildium — which pulls TransUnion data along with criminal and eviction history simultaneously — what comes back is a layered picture of someone’s financial behavior over time.
Here’s what’s actually in the report:
- Payment history: On-time payments, late payments (30, 60, or 90+ days), and any accounts in default
- Outstanding balances: Current debt load across credit cards, loans, and collections
- Collections and charge-offs: Unpaid accounts sent to third-party collectors, which stay on a report for up to 7 years
- Eviction history: Prior filings, not just judgments — an attempted eviction shows up even if the tenant moved out before the court date
- Public records: Bankruptcies, civil judgments, tax liens
- Credit inquiries: Recent applications for new credit, which can signal financial stress
The score at the top is just a summary of all that. It’s worth reading, but it’s not the whole story.
What the Score Doesn’t Tell You
Here’s a take that surprises a lot of owners: a 720 credit score doesn’t tell you whether someone will take care of your property. It tells you they’re good at paying credit cards.
Credit scores are built on revolving credit, installment loans, and payment history to lenders — not landlords. A tenant with a 720 and zero rental history is a bigger unknown than a tenant with a 640 and five years of verified, on-time rent payments and no complaints from prior landlords.
We see this play out regularly. Applicants in the 580–640 range often carry lower scores because of medical debt or a rough patch a few years back — not because they habitually skip rent payments. In Pine Bluff, where the median household income hovers around $35,000–$38,000 annually, a lot of otherwise solid renters fall into that range. That doesn’t make them risky tenants. It makes them normal people living in a normal economy.
The Income-to-Rent Ratio Matters More Than Most Owners Realize
If we could only keep one metric from a screening report, it wouldn’t be the credit score. It would be the income-to-rent ratio.
The standard check is whether the applicant earns 2–3x the monthly rent in verified gross income. At our average rent of $800/month across the portfolio, that means looking for at least $1,600–$2,400/month in documented income. Pay stubs, bank statements, or employer verification — something we can actually confirm.
An applicant can have a 680 score and still be completely unqualified if their gross income is $900/month. Flip that around: a 595 score with $2,800/month in stable income, a clean eviction record, and verified on-time rent payments for four years? That’s a tenant worth a serious look.
What “Fair” Credit Actually Means (and When to Dig Deeper)
Scores in the 580–619 range are generally classified as “fair.” That’s not great, but it’s also not automatically disqualifying.
When Rachel, our office manager, reviews a report in that range, she’s looking at a few specific things before making a recommendation:
- What’s driving the low score? A single medical collection from 2021 looks nothing like a pattern of 60-day lates across multiple accounts.
- How old is the negative item? A one-time delinquency from three years ago carries a lot less weight than the same delinquency from six months ago.
- Is there eviction history? That’s the flag that changes everything. An eviction in the file is a concrete behavioral data point — not just a financial one.
- What does rental history look like? Prior landlord references can tell you more than the score can.
We had a case in the Saline County portfolio where an applicant came in with a 601 score. On paper, easy rejection. But when Rachel pulled the full report, the entire drop was tied to one medical collection from 2021. The applicant had four years of on-time rent verified through landlord references and $2,600/month in gross income against an $800 rent. They were approved with a slightly larger security deposit. That tenant has paid on time for 14 consecutive months.
The score is a starting point, not a finish line. Context — income, eviction history, rental history, and debt type — is what actually predicts whether someone pays rent.
“$3,500–$5,000 | average Arkansas eviction cost”
Where Section 8 Applicants Fit Into This
We manage Section 8 properties across Jefferson, Saline, and Pulaski Counties, and we get questions about this a lot.
HUD voucher holders go through their own income and background vetting by the housing authority. That layer exists. But it doesn’t catch everything. Credit checks on Section 8 applicants still matter because they surface utility collection accounts or prior evictions that HUD screening doesn’t always flag. A tenant with an $800 voucher and three open utility judgments is a real risk — not because of the voucher, but because of those judgments.
Skipping the credit check on a Section 8 applicant because “HUD already vetted them” is a gap in your screening process. The voucher covers rent. It doesn’t cover what happens to your unit.
We apply the same written screening criteria to Section 8 applicants as to any other applicant. That consistency across all 850 units and eight counties isn’t just good practice. Depending on your jurisdiction, applying inconsistent screening criteria to Section 8 voucher holders may violate state or local fair housing or source-of-income protections—and it’s always a fair housing best practice regardless.
The Real Cost of a Rigid Score Cutoff
One owner we work with had been running a “no credit below 650” policy for years on their Pine Bluff properties. On the surface, that sounds responsible. In practice, they were averaging 45–60 days of vacancy between tenants.
At $800/month, 60 days empty is $1,600 gone. Not from a bad tenant. From no tenant. And some of the applicants they were turning away had strong rental history, stable income, and scores that sat at 630 because of old medical debt.
After working with our team to revise their criteria — evaluating score context alongside income ratio, eviction record, and debt type — their vacancy window dropped and they stopped turning away people who were genuinely qualified by every real measure except an arbitrary number.
In rural markets like Drew, Lincoln, and Cleveland Counties, the qualified applicant pool is smaller than it is in the Little Rock suburbs. Holding out for a 700+ in those areas can mean 60–90 extra days of vacancy at $800/month. That’s $1,600–$2,400 in pure lost revenue to avoid an applicant who might have been your best tenant yet.
Why Consistent Screening Criteria Protects You Legally
This part doesn’t get enough attention. Fair housing law requires that you apply your screening criteria consistently and without discrimination—evaluating every applicant using the same objective, lawful standards—so that no applicant is treated differently on the basis of a protected class. If you waive the credit requirement for one applicant and not another, and the two applicants happen to belong to different protected classes, you’ve created exposure for a Fair Housing complaint. First-offense civil penalties can reach up to $26,262 per violation under 2025 federal figures.
Written criteria matter. Documented decisions matter. When Gracie, our property manager, runs retroactive screenings on portfolios we’ve taken over from other management companies, she sometimes finds tenants who were accepted on verbal references alone with no screening on file at all. That’s not just a legal gap. It’s a practical one.
We took on one portfolio mid-transition where two existing tenants had never been formally screened by the previous manager. Gracie ran the checks and found one tenant with an active eviction filing in Drew County from a prior address — information that gave the owner what they needed to start a lawful non-renewal rather than a messy, prolonged dispute later.
How We Run Screening at Re/Max Platinum
Our screening process runs through Buildium, which pulls credit, criminal, and eviction history in a single report. Turnaround is typically 3–5 business days.
The full report runs $50–$75. Owners who balk at that cost should think about what an eviction costs in Arkansas — potentially several weeks in Jefferson County District Court, plus attorney fees, lost rent, and turnover. We’ve seen it run $3,500–$5,000 before it’s over. A $65 screening report is cheap insurance.
Wes started buying and managing his own properties in 2015 before this evolved into a full management operation. That background shapes how we look at screening — not as a box-checking exercise, but as the first line of actual risk management for owners.
One client who transitioned their portfolio to us from a previous provider put it plainly: the follow-up during that changeover was solid, Rachel stepped in quickly when early payment questions came up, and the experience has been consistently reliable since January 2024. That kind of continuity starts with knowing what you’re inheriting — and screening is a big part of that.
If managing tenant screening across multiple properties and counties feels harder than it should be, we’re open to a conversation about how we handle it.
FAQ
What credit score do most landlords require for rental approval?
Many landlords use 620 as a common minimum, but the right number depends on your market and your other criteria. We evaluate scores in context rather than as a hard cutoff, particularly when income, rental history, and eviction record tell a more complete story.
Does a credit check show evictions?
Yes. Eviction filings show up in tenant screening reports, not just final judgments. An attempted eviction that the tenant moved out of before the court date can still appear in the record, which is exactly why a full background pull matters more than a standalone credit score.
How long do negative items stay on a credit report?
Most negative items, including collections and charge-offs remain visible for 7 years, measured from 180 days after the date of original delinquency. A late payment stays on the report for 7 years from the date the payment was missed. Context matters here — a single event 3 years ago looks very different from a pattern of recent 90-day lates.
Can I require a higher security deposit for an applicant with lower credit?
Generally yes, up to the limits allowed by Arkansas law, as long as you apply the same policy consistently to all applicants in that credit range. Using a higher deposit as a risk offset for a borderline-but-otherwise-qualified applicant is a reasonable tool when it’s documented and applied without discrimination.
Do credit checks apply to Section 8 or HUD applicants?
Yes, and they should. HUD vetting covers income eligibility and some background screening, but it doesn’t always catch utility collection accounts or prior eviction filings at previous addresses. We run the same screening on voucher holders as on any other applicant.
How much does tenant screening cost compared to a bad eviction?
A full credit, criminal, and eviction report runs $50–$75 per applicant. An eviction in Arkansas, once you factor in court time, attorney fees, and lost rent during a 30–45 day process, can run $3,500–$5,000 or more. The math on skipping the screening report doesn’t work in an owner’s favor.
