Most rental property owners know they're supposed to run a credit check. Fewer know what to do with what comes back.
A number pops up on the screen. Maybe it's 640. Maybe it's 710. And the owner has to decide: approve, deny, or ask more questions. If your entire screening process is built around that single number, you're working with about 20% of the information you actually have access to.
We work with over 300 owners across Hampton Roads, and this conversation comes up constantly. Someone gets an applicant who seems great in person. The income looks right. But the credit check raises a flag, and they're not sure how to read it. Or the opposite happens: a clean-looking score hides problems that don't surface until month three.
This post is about what a credit check actually contains, what score we generally look for in this market, and where owners go wrong when they treat screening like a simple pass/fail test.
In This Guide
A Credit Check Is Not Just a Score
The score is a summary. Think of it like a movie rating: it tells you something, but it doesn't tell you the whole story. The actual report is the film.
When we pull a full credit report through Rentvine. Rent Check., we're looking at a lot more than one number:
- Payment history: Every account, and whether payments were made on time, late by 30+ days, or not at all
- Collections: Open or closed accounts sent to collections, including amounts owed and who the original creditor was
- Public records: Bankruptcy filings, Under the FCRA, both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies can legally remain on a credit report for up to 10 years—though credit bureaus typically remove Chapter 13 after 7 years as an industry practice.
- Prior evictions: Filed or completed eviction actions from previous landlords
- Hard inquiries: Recent credit applications that can signal financial pressure
- Account balances vs. limits: Utilization rate, which tells you how stretched someone's credit is right now
A tenant can have a 680 credit score and three open collections accounts, one of them owed to a former landlord. That's not visible in the score. It's in the report.
We had an owner with a townhome in Norfolk who pushed back on requiring a 620 minimum, worried it would stretch her vacancy. When we pulled the report on her first applicant — someone who looked solid on paper — it showed three open collections accounts totaling over $8,000, including one from a previous landlord. The application was declined. A qualified tenant was placed within 11 days.
What "Good Enough" Actually Means in Hampton Roads
There's no universal credit score that automatically makes someone a good tenant. But across our 475 managed properties, we've settled on 620 as the floor for residential applicants.
Here's why that number matters in this specific market.
At our average rent of $1,706 a month, a tenant who stops paying puts roughly $20,472 per year at risk per unit. And if it gets bad enough to file for eviction, Virginia's eviction process moves relatively quickly: the initial unlawful detainer hearing must generally occur within 21 days of filing (or up to 30 days if delayed), though the full process from filing through obtaining a writ of possession can extend longer depending on court scheduling, continuances, and whether the judgment is contested.. That's potentially $5,100 or more in lost rent before you even get possession back.
“At our average rent of $1,706 a month, a tenant who stops paying puts roughly $20,472 per year at risk per unit.”
So the 620 threshold exists for a reason. But it's a floor, not a finish line.
What About Scores Below 620?
Applicants below 620 aren't automatically disqualified everywhere. Sometimes an additional security deposit makes sense. But that decision has to be applied consistently across all applicants, or you create fair housing exposure. More on that in a minute.
When a High Score Isn't the Whole Picture
We had an owner bring us an applicant with a 700+ credit score. Strong score. But when Jade, our maintenance coordinator, flagged some inconsistencies in the income documentation, we dug deeper into the full Rent Check report and found an auto repossession from 14 months prior. The score hadn't moved much, but the behavior was recent and relevant. We ran a more thorough income verification before moving forward. That's the layered approach.
The Hampton Roads Market Has Its Own Credit Quirks
This market is different. Naval Station Norfolk is the largest naval station in the world, and a huge portion of our rental applicant pool comes from active-duty military and their families.
Young servicemembers often have thin credit files. Not because of financial problems, but because they're 22, they've been stationed overseas, and they've never had a car loan or a credit card with much history behind it. A thin file and a low score are not the same thing as a bad tenant.
When we're evaluating military applicants, we read the report with that context in mind. Steady income, a BAH housing allowance, and a clean payment history on what little credit exists can tell a more complete story than a 590 score might suggest at first glance.
By the way, Section 8/HUD applicants are a separate conversation. Virginia enacted a statewide source-of-income protection law, effective July 1, 2021, which prohibits landlords from discriminating against tenants based on their source of income, including housing vouchers., but some localities are moving in that direction. PMI Virginia already manages Section 8/HUD units, and for voucher holders, the government-guaranteed portion of the rent doesn't depend on their personal credit score at all. We help owners think through how to screen those applicants fairly and consistently.
The Income Side of the Equation
Credit isn't screened in isolation. We pair it with an income-to-rent ratio. Our standard is 3x the monthly rent in verifiable gross income.
At $1,706 in average monthly rent, a qualifying applicant needs to show around $5,118 per month in documented gross income. Pay stubs, tax returns, employer letters. Not "I have a job" but actual documentation.
We see a lot of applications fail here. Someone has a decent credit score but their income just doesn't verify. The two checks work together. A strong score with shaky income is a risk. Strong income with a rocky credit history needs a closer read. Both indicators matter.
Why Consistency Matters More Than Strictness
Here's something that catches owners off guard. Being too strict isn't the main risk. Being inconsistent is.
Say an owner sets an informal 680 minimum in their head, then waives it for an applicant they have a good feeling about. If a protected-class applicant with a 665 score was denied earlier and a non-protected applicant with a 655 score was approved later, that inconsistency can become the basis for a fair housing complaint. The decision might have been completely innocent. But without documentation, it's very hard to defend.
We had an owner with a multi-family property in Virginia Beach who wanted to skip the credit check entirely for a referral applicant. A current resident had vouched for the person. Our recommendation was to screen them the same way we screen everyone. Skipping it for one applicant while running checks on others creates exactly the kind of inconsistency that causes problems. The referral was screened normally. The report showed an eviction filing from 2021 that the applicant hadn't disclosed.
A documented, consistently applied credit policy is one of the best protections an owner has.
What Owners Get Wrong About DIY Screening
We see a few patterns that come up repeatedly when owners self-manage and then bring properties to us after something goes wrong.
- Score-only checks: Free or cheap tools sometimes return a score without the underlying detail. Open collections, charge-offs, prior landlord debts, and recent hard inquiries don't show up. Just the number.
- Skipping income verification: A clean score doesn't mean someone can afford the rent right now. Both checks are necessary.
- Inconsistent criteria: Different standards applied to different applicants, even unintentionally, creates fair housing risk.
- Ignoring eviction history: An eviction on a credit or background report is documented, measurable information, not a judgment call. Virginia's eviction timeline alone is reason enough to take prior filings seriously.
One owner came to us after self-managing a single-family home in Chesapeake. He'd approved a tenant with a 580 credit score because the person seemed reliable in person. That tenant was 60+ days late within the first four months. By the time the owner handed the property over to us, he'd absorbed over $5,000 in unpaid rent and repair costs. The credit report had shown warning signs he didn't have a system to catch.
How PMI Virginia Screens Across 475 Properties
Our process has been tested across a high-volume, diverse portfolio. Single-family homes, multi-family buildings, townhomes, condos, and Section 8/HUD units. The criteria scale across all of them.
We use Rent Check to pull comprehensive credit and background reports on every applicant. The application fee covers the cost of that pull, typically in the $50 to $75 range, which is standard across Hampton Roads. Krystal, who manages our office operations, makes sure every applicant moves through the same documented steps regardless of the property type.
The reports give us a seven-year window into payment history under FCRA guidelines. Bankruptcies can appear for up to 10 years. We're looking at the full timeline, not just what happened last year.
And we're not just reading scores. We're reading patterns. A tenant who had a rough two years following a layoff, cleaned it up, and has been stable for 36 months is a very different risk profile than someone with a 710 score and a history of opening and closing accounts every few months with no rental track record at all.
One long-term client put it pretty simply after years of working with us: "Whenever we've called, they've acted fast and made sure the issue was taken care of. Good communication and reliable service like that is hard to find."
That kind of long-term tenant relationship doesn't happen by accident. It starts with getting the screening right.
A 620 Is a Starting Point. The Report Tells the Story.
Good tenant screening isn't about finding a reason to say no. It's about collecting enough real information to make a confident decision. In a market like Hampton Roads, where turnover runs higher than the national average due to military PCS cycles and contractor rotations, getting that first placement right matters more than getting it done fast.
If reading credit reports and building a consistent screening policy feels harder than it should, we're happy to have that conversation. We've been investing and managing in Hampton Roads since 1993, and we're not going anywhere.
FAQ
What does a credit check show a landlord beyond just the credit score?
A full credit report shows payment history, open and closed collections accounts, bankruptcy filings, prior eviction records, hard inquiries, and credit utilization. The score is a summary of this data, but the individual line items tell you far more about how an applicant actually handles financial obligations.
What credit score should a landlord require in Virginia Beach?
We generally use 620 as our minimum threshold in Hampton Roads. Applicants below that may require additional security deposit consideration or a closer review of compensating factors like income strength and rental history. The score is a starting point, not the only factor.
Can a landlord deny a tenant based on their credit report in Virginia?
Yes, but Virginia landlords must follow federal FCRA requirements and provide written adverse action notice to any applicant denied based on a credit report. That notice must identify the consumer reporting agency used. Skipping this step creates federal liability even if the denial itself was completely valid.
Do military applicants with thin credit files automatically get declined?
No, and they shouldn't. A thin credit file is not the same as a bad credit file. Many young servicemembers simply haven't had time to build credit history. We evaluate those applicants in context, looking at income stability, BAH documentation, and payment history on whatever accounts do exist.
How is a Section 8 applicant screened differently?
The government-guaranteed portion of a Section 8 tenant's rent doesn't depend on their personal credit score. We still screen Section 8 applicants for background and rental history, but the income risk calculation is different since a significant portion of rent comes directly from HUD. Virginia enacted a statewide source-of-income protection law, effective July 1, 2021, which prohibits landlords from discriminating against tenants based on their source of income, including housing vouchers, so owners must comply with that requirement, and consistency in applying whatever policy you choose still matters.
Why is consistent screening more important than strict screening?
Inconsistency creates fair housing exposure. If you apply different standards to different applicants, even informally, a protected-class applicant who was denied could potentially point to a later approval under different criteria as evidence of discrimination. A documented, uniformly applied screening policy is what protects owners legally, not just how high the bar is set.
