How We Screen Tenants (and What Minnesota Law Requires)

The tenant you place shapes everything that follows: rent on time, the condition of the home, and whether you ever deal with an eviction. Good screening is the cheapest risk control an owner has. It also has to follow Minnesota's rules, which have tightened in recent years.

What Fuze checks

Every applicant goes through credit, background and rental history screening before we recommend approval. Screening is part of our leasing service, along with pricing, marketing, lease preparation and move-in condition reporting.

For properties outside Minneapolis and St. Paul, our written criteria require verified gross household income of at least 3 times the monthly rent (all adults on the application count, including co-signers) and, where credit can be used, a minimum credit score of 625. We verify income before running credit, criminal and eviction history. When applicants provide every document up front, screening can take as little as 24 to 48 hours.

Minneapolis and St. Paul have their own screening rules, and we apply each city's requirements to properties there. We also screen under fair housing law and Minneapolis source-of-income protections, so a voucher holder is never denied because of the voucher.

Minnesota rules on screening fees

Minnesota Statutes section 504B.173 sets the rules when a landlord charges an applicant screening fee:

• Disclose before you collect: before accepting the fee, the landlord must give the applicant in writing the name, address and phone number of any tenant screening service used, and the criteria the decision will be based on.
• Only when a unit is available: no screening fee may be charged if the landlord knows or should know no unit is available now or in a reasonable time.
• One applicant at a time: the fee may not be used, cashed or deposited until all earlier applicants have been screened and rejected, or offered the unit and declined.
• Returns: the fee must be returned if the applicant is rejected for a reason not in the written criteria, or if an earlier applicant takes the unit. Any part not spent on a reference check or screening report must also be returned.
• Receipts: a written receipt must be given on request.
• Rejection notice: within 14 days of rejecting an application, the landlord must tell the applicant which criteria they failed to meet.

What you can't deny an application for

Under the same section, a landlord may not deny an application based on a pending eviction action, a court file that is not public or has been expunged or destroyed, or an eviction action that did not result in a writ of recovery of premises and order to vacate.

Section 504B.117 also requires rental applications to let applicants provide either a Social Security number or an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN). An application can't be denied solely because the applicant used an ITIN.

And of course, all screening must follow federal, state and local fair housing laws. Applying the same written criteria to every applicant is the best protection for both the owner and the applicant.

Consequences for getting it wrong

A landlord who violates section 504B.173 can owe the applicant the screening fee plus a civil penalty of up to $100, court filing costs and reasonable attorney fees. On the other side, an applicant who gives materially false information can owe the landlord damages plus a civil penalty of up to $500, costs and attorney fees.

Screening is only the first layer

Risk control continues after move-in: a documented move-in condition report, clear lease terms, consistent rent collection and lease enforcement, and a pre-renewal inspection before deciding whether to renew. Those are all part of Fuze's full-service management.

Related event: St. Paul and Minneapolis Landlord Rules

Talk to Fuze about your rental

Want a tenant you can count on? See how Fuze property management works, view our pricing, or call 612.353.8080.

This article is general information, not legal advice. It summarizes Minnesota Statutes chapter 504B as published in the 2025 Minnesota Statutes by the Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Laws change, and some cities add their own rules, so check current law or talk with a Minnesota attorney about your situation.