Reviewing Applications, AI Risk Scores, and Screening Results

Every submitted application gives you a single place to read the applicant's details, order screening, and see the AI risk summary before you decide.

Go to Applications →

The Applications hub

The main Applications page opens with a stats bar (Pending Review, Approved This Month, Denied) and six tabs: All, Pending, Approved, Denied, Invites, and Screening Reports. Outstanding invites that haven't been accepted yet also surface at the top of the All tab as a quick reminder of who you're still waiting on. The Screening Reports tab lists every order you've placed across all applicants, with monthly ordered/completed counts and your current Screening Credits balance.

Application status states

An application moves through these statuses as it progresses:

• Submitted — the applicant finished and paid any required fee
• Under Review, Screening Ordered, and Screening Complete — intermediate states while you evaluate
• Approved or Denied — your final decision
• Withdrawn — the applicant pulled out

An application only appears in your list once any application fee has been paid (or no fee was set) — you won't see partial, unpaid submissions.

What's on an application

Opening an applicant's page shows, top to bottom:

• Applicant Information — name, email, phone, employment status, employer, monthly income, move-in date, pets, vehicles, and their cover message
• Verification Documents — any pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns/W-2s, employment letter, or proof of rent the applicant uploaded, which the AI risk score also reads
• Prior Landlord References — star ratings across payment, cleanliness, lease compliance, communication, neighbor relations, and move-out condition, plus yes/no answers on would-rent-again, proper notice, deposit return, and lease violations, shown once each reference responds
• Unit Details — rent, deposit, and an income-to-rent ratio rated Strong (3x+ rent), Adequate (2.5–3x), or Low (below 2.5x)

Ordering screening for an applicant

If no screening has been ordered yet, click Order Screening Reports to select from Criminal Background, Eviction History, and Rental History (SSN Trace) — each 1 screening credit. Income & Bank Verification (Plaid) and Credit Report also appear in this list but are marked Coming Soon and can't be selected yet. You must check the FCRA Permissible Purpose Certification box — confirming you have a permissible purpose and the applicant has consented — before the order can be placed. The cost comes out of your Screening Credits balance.

Reading screening results

Once released, criminal and eviction results show as either Clear — no records found or a match count. If a match is still pending compliance review, you'll see a headline like "records found — under review" with the underlying details withheld until that review completes, rather than raw record data. Rental history shows the number of verified addresses found. A View Full Report → link opens the complete screening order, where you can download a PDF of each completed report.

Reading the AI Risk Score

From the application page, click Generate AI Risk Score (10 AI credits) to have VerticalRent analyze income, application data, uploaded documents, and any released screening results into a 0–100 score with a plain-English assessment. The scoring guide breaks down as:

• 85–100 (Excellent) — strong income (3x+ rent), verified employment, clean background, good credit
• 70–84 (Good) — adequate income (2.5–3x), steady employment, minor issues, no evictions
• 50–69 (Fair) — borderline income, employment gaps, limited history
• 0–49 (Poor) — below 2x income, unverified information, eviction or criminal history

You can regenerate the score at any time for another 10 credits as new information comes in.

Separately, an AI Application Summary (4 AI credits) gives you a quick one-paragraph read plus bullet highlights of the application — useful for a fast first pass before you dig into the full details.

Next step: a decision

Once you've reviewed everything, approve or deny the applicant. See Approving, Denying, and Sending FCRA Adverse Action Notices for what happens next.