The Meridian Blog

Tenants will find a lot of excellent reasons to rent one of our homes. We provide well-managed properties in diverse neighborhoods. Our team is responsive and accessible when it comes to any questions a potential resident may have during the leasing process.

Many of the most common questions center on the application and the screening process. Today we’re talking to tenants about the rental background check and what we look for when we’re approving residents for one of our rental properties.

Completed Application for Adult Residents

Everyone 18 years of age or older will need to complete an application and agree to a rental background check before we can begin the screening process. Our application is online and easy to complete. We’ll ask for identifying information as well as past addresses, employment and income information, and the names and contact information for recent landlords and property managers.

It’s important that you complete the entire application and sign it where indicated. This will give us the permission we need to run your credit report and conduct the complete tenant background check that we need to make a decision.

Employment and Income Verification

We will measure your income against the monthly rental amount to make sure you can afford the home you’re hoping to rent for us. Typically, we like to see income that’s at least three times the amount of the monthly rent. If more than one adult is moving into the property, we’ll consider the total income of all residents.

To verify what you earn, please be prepared to provide pay stubs, employment contracts, tax forms, or bank statements that support the amount you list on your application. We may contact your employer simply to verify that you work there and to confirm your title and start date.

Criminal and Credit History

Checking your criminal and credit history is a big part of any tenant background check. You can expect us to look at national criminal records as well as national eviction records. When we’re looking at your credit report, we aren’t necessarily insisting on perfect credit. We do want to make sure that you take your financial responsibilities seriously, and that you are current with all household related bills. We understand that almost everyone carries debt. However, we don’t want to see overdue utility bills or money owed to former landlords or apartment communities.

Communication and Transparency

If there’s something in your application that worries you, please talk to us about it before you apply. When you’re willing to be transparent and honest, we can usually work around whatever might plague your application. Sometimes a medical crisis can lower a credit score or a divorce can result in financial instability. We understand.

Our entire tenant screening process is compliant with all fair housing laws. If you’d like to talk about our rental criteria in depth, please contact us at Meridian Residential Group. We’d be happy to talk about your chances of approval before you schedule a showing or fill out an application.

Meridian Residential Group in North Charleston provides both single-family and multi-family property management in the Charleston, SC area, including in North Charleston, Summerville, Goose Creek, and Moncks Corner, among other cities.