Here are a few great resources that make checking a potential tenant's credit and criminal background check quick and easy. This article clarifies six (6) of the common rules of thumb that landlords face in screening prospective tenants.Under federal law, a landlord who denies your tenant application because of information in a tenant screening report is required to inform you of that fact. Before you can do any kind of background check on an applicant, you must get a signed consent form. I created my own rental application with a discover form. You must give a reason, and the reason must be particular. Applicant's authorization: It's mandatory to get written permission from the tenant to run a credit check in most states. If you live in Cook County, you generally cannot be denied housing just because of your arrest or conviction record. You can ask the landlord, but if you did not grant them written authorization, it's unlikely that they ran any real checks on you.