What does a credit check show landlords (and what score is good enough)

If you own rental property, you’ve probably asked yourself this question at least once: “Is this credit score good enough, or am I about to make a $10,000 mistake?”

You’re not alone. Tenant screening is one of those things that looks simple on the surface and gets complicated fast. A three-digit number shows up on a report, and suddenly you’re supposed to decide whether a real person is going to pay rent on time, respect your property, and not disappear in month three.

We’ve been managing rentals in Memphis for 15 years, across a portfolio of about 1,200 units and 400 owners. What we’ve learned is that the score matters, but it’s only one piece of a much bigger picture. This post breaks down what a credit check actually contains, what scores mean in the real world, and where landlords get into trouble by treating one number like a final answer.

In This Guide

What Shows Up on a Tenant Credit Report

A credit report is not just a score. The score is a summary calculation, but the report behind it contains a lot more.

Here’s what a standard tenant credit report typically includes:

• Credit score: The three-digit number, usually pulled from one of the three major bureaus — Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion
• Payment history: A record of on-time and late payments going back up to 7 years, including any accounts that went 30, 60, or 90-plus days past due
• Collections accounts: Debts that were sent to a collector, including medical, utility, and credit card collections
• Public records: Bankruptcies, judgments, and tax liens; Chapter 7 bankruptcy stays on a report for 10 years, while Chapter 13 lingers for 7
• Credit inquiries: Hard pulls that show when someone has recently applied for credit elsewhere
• Account balances and credit utilization: How much of their available credit they’re actually using

We pull all of this through Propertyware, our screening platform, so nothing gets buried or missed. The score is the headline. The report is the story.

What a Credit Score Range Actually Means for Rental Decisions

Let’s talk real numbers, not abstract ranges.

In Memphis, 620 is the baseline we typically use as a starting threshold for most conventional rentals. Applicants below that face closer scrutiny across every other factor. From 620 to 679, we’re looking at the full report carefully. At 680 and above, most applicants qualify without needing a co-signer or additional deposit.

Here’s a rough breakdown of how we think about score ranges day-to-day:

The $1,100 average rent across our portfolio translates to a minimum gross monthly income target of around $3,300 for an applicant, regardless of their score. Income and score work together. A 700-score applicant earning $2,000 a month has a bigger problem than a 640-score applicant earning $4,500.

The Credit Score Myth That Costs Landlords Real Money

Here’s a take most landlords don’t hear often enough: a 750 credit score doesn’t make someone a great tenant. It makes them a great borrower.

Credit scores measure how well someone repays car loans, credit cards, and student loans. They don’t measure whether someone will pay rent on time, report maintenance issues appropriately, or avoid lease violations. Those are different behaviors.

We worked with an owner who approved a tenant with a 710 credit score but didn’t read the full report carefully. Buried in it was an unpaid balance to a previous utility provider and a prior eviction that had been settled out of court. Within four months, that tenant had two late payments and unauthorized occupants in the home. The score looked fine. The report told a different story.

And on the flip side: one of our longtime owners had a tenant approved with a 660 score and three medical collections totaling under $800. That tenant never missed a single payment over an 18-month lease at $1,050 a month. Those collections had nothing to do with rent behavior. Context is everything.

What Medical Debt Does (and Doesn’t) Mean

Memphis landlords need to understand a recent shift that changed how credit reports look for a lot of applicants in this market.

Starting in 2023 and 2024, the three major credit bureaus removed most medical debt under $500 from credit reports entirely. That’s meaningful here, because medical collections have historically appeared at higher rates among applicants in the Mid-South than in many other regions. Roughly 1 in 3 applicants we screen at our volume has at least one collections account, and a significant portion of those are medical.

So if you’re seeing applicants with a 640 score and a medical collection, that collection may not say anything useful about how they pay rent. It says they had a hospital bill they couldn’t afford. Those are two different things.

Oh, and any medical debt that remains on a report should be read in full context. A $300 medical collection from four years ago is not the same red flag as a pattern of 30-to-60 day late payments on multiple accounts over the past two years.

Where Landlords Get Into Legal Trouble with Score Cutoffs

This is where things get uncomfortable, so we’re going to be direct.

Applying credit score requirements inconsistently is a Fair Housing liability. Under fair housing law — federal and state — screening criteria applied consistently to every applicant for the same unit, as inconsistent application can give rise to discrimination claims. If you tell us “only approve people above 680” but then ask us to make an exception for a friend’s referral, you’ve just undermined your own policy. Documented exceptions without documented reasons can be the start of a complaint.

The smarter approach is a written screening matrix that weighs credit score alongside income verification, rental history, and eviction records together. That documentation is what protects you.

Angie, who handles a lot of our owner onboarding, walks new clients through exactly this kind of criteria setup before their first listing goes live. A consistent written policy isn’t bureaucratic overhead. It’s your first line of legal defense.

Section 8 and HUD Applicants: Different Rules Apply

If you own Section 8 properties here, the credit score rules are different and owners sometimes get this wrong.

HUD voucher holders may have protections against certain discriminatory screening practices under fair housing law, and advocacy groups have raised concerns about landlord policies that effectively exclude Section 8 participants in Memphis — though landlords generally may still apply standard screening criteria, including credit checks, on a consistent basis. The screening process for voucher holders requires a more individualized review. That doesn’t mean you can’t screen them. It means you can’t apply a rigid score floor in the same way you might for conventional applicants.

We manage Section 8 properties across our portfolio, and this is a process that requires consistency and documentation. Denying a voucher holder because their score is 610 while approving a conventional applicant at 615 in the same building is the kind of decision that leads to complaints.

The Eviction Record Problem Most Landlords Miss

Credit score and eviction history are not the same search. This is one of the most common and costly mistakes we see locally.

A prior eviction doesn’t always show up as a major hit to someone’s credit score, especially if it was settled out of court or dismissed before a judgment was entered. Shelby County General Sessions Court records are publicly accessible, and they surface eviction filings even when the eviction wasn’t completed. An applicant could walk in with a 650 score and a filing history that never dragged down their credit.

We had an owner managing a multi-family duplex in Frayser who wanted to skip the credit check entirely for a tenant referred by someone currently renting from them. We ran the check anyway and found an active Chapter 13 bankruptcy filed six months before the application. That owner avoided what could have been a non-payment situation from day one. Screenings exist for a reason.

The combination of a credit pull and a dedicated eviction search through Propertyware is the only way to get the full picture. Running just one of those two checks leaves a real gap.

Vacancy Cost Is a Screening Factor Too

One thing that rarely gets talked about in landlord screening conversations is what a too-strict policy costs.

We worked with an owner who insisted on a 700-score minimum for a single-family rental in East Memphis. That unit sat empty for 47 days before they agreed to drop the threshold to 650. At $1,200 a month, that vacancy cost them roughly $1,880 in lost rent before a qualified tenant was placed.

Setting a credit floor too high in a market like Memphis doesn’t always protect you. This is one of the most affordable rental markets in the Southeast, and our average rent of $1,100 attracts a wide range of applicants, including people with 640 scores who have solid income and a clean rental history. Pricing someone out of consideration because of an arbitrary number, while a vacancy drags on, is a real financial cost that owners sometimes forget to calculate.

The right threshold isn’t the highest one you can set. It’s the one that reflects actual risk while keeping your unit generating income.

FAQ

What does a credit check show that a landlord actually cares about?

The most useful things in a credit report are payment history, collections accounts, and public records like bankruptcies or judgments. The score matters, but patterns of late payments or a prior eviction filing will tell you far more about rental behavior than the three-digit number alone.

Is a 620 credit score good enough to rent in Memphis?

It depends on the full picture. At RJ Property Management, 620 is the baseline we typically use as a starting point — applicants below that face closer review of every other factor. At 620 and above, a strong income, clean rental history, and no prior evictions can make a solid case for approval.

Can a landlord reject a Section 8 applicant based on credit score?

Not with a blanket cutoff. Memphis Housing Authority rules and Fair Housing guidance require a more individualized review process for HUD voucher holders. Applying a rigid score floor to voucher applicants in the same way you would conventional applicants can create a Fair Housing exposure.

Does a prior eviction always show up on a credit report?

No, and this is a common gap in how landlords screen. Evictions settled out of court or dismissed before a judgment may not damage a credit score significantly. A separate eviction search through Shelby County court records is the only reliable way to catch prior filings.

How much does medical debt on a credit report matter for rental decisions?

Less than it used to, especially since the major bureaus removed most medical debt under $500 from reports starting in 2023. Medical collections that remain should be read in context. An old, isolated medical bill is a very different signal from a pattern of missed payments across multiple accounts.

What screening fee do landlords in Memphis typically charge applicants?

Screening fees in this market generally run between $75 and $100. RJ collects this upfront as part of the application process to cover the cost of a credit and background check. It’s non-refundable once the screening is complete.

If tenant screening feels like it’s getting complicated fast, that’s because it genuinely is. The rules around Fair Housing, Section 8, eviction records, and credit report changes move more often than most owners realize. If you’d like to talk through how we handle it across 1,200 units, we’re open to a conversation.