Stessa’s Rental Application feature takes the stress and disorganization out of receiving and reviewing rental applications for your vacant properties. Share an application for any property, then review all applicant information including a credit report provided by RentPrep and backed by TransUnion – all within Stessa.

Whether your property is currently vacant or you’re expecting it to be soon, you can create and share an application for the property at any time. By creating an application, you activate a unique link that you can share with individuals or post publicly for interested applicants.

Any applicant who clicks through your application link will be asked to fill in a standard rental application. In addition to personal information, we collect residence history, employment information, and contact details for all prospective residents of the home.

Each applicant will also be required to complete a TransUnion Full Credit Report which will be delivered to you upon completion. This report is facilitated by our screening partner RentPrep and incurs a $40 fee paid by the applicant. The TransUnion Full Credit Report includes:

View a sample report or learn more about the TransUnion Full Credit Report here.

Yes, there are two add-ons available when creating an application:

-Income verification ($10): Includes an annual net income summary and average monthly net income.

-Judgment and Liens ($7): Hand compiled by FCRA certified screeners.

Fees will be paid for by the applicant.

Once the application and credit report form has been completed by an applicant (and any co-applicants), you’ll receive a notification to review the full application within Stessa. You can view each applicant and co-applicants self-reported information as well as the TransUnion credit report provided by RentPrep.

Important to note: An application is not considered “complete” until all of the applicants and co-applicants have submitted their Stessa application and completed their RentPrep credit report.

When you’re ready to approve an application, you can make that decision visible within Stessa.

Stessa will not send any communications to the applicant based on your decision. You should let the applicant know the good news and any next steps (deposits, lease signing, etc) as soon as possible. From here, you can do many of the things having a new tenant requires: upload a signed lease, create a new tenancy, or prepare to collect rent.

If you’d like to mark an application as denied, you may do so. Again Stessa will not send any communications to the applicant based on your decision.
​You bear full responsibility for sending any required adverse action correspondence and ensuring that the correspondence complies with all applicable laws. You should take appropriate care to ensure that any adverse action correspondence you use is completed accurately and correctly. Please consult with legal counsel as appropriate.

If you’ve found a tenant or would otherwise like to stop receiving applications for your property, simply click Stop accepting applications with the app. You can re-open applications at any time.

RentPrep is a team of FCRA Certified Screeners who perform credit and background checks professionally. They are a partner of Stessa & Roofstock as well as many other companies. Learn more about RentPrep here.

If you need further assistance or have questions that aren't already answered in the Help Center, feel free to open a new support conversation by clicking the blue circle in the lower right once you're logged in at Stessa.

If you have any questions about a RentPrep report, please contact RentPrep’s customer support at (888) 877-8501 or screening@rentprep.com.

Conducting a background screening of applicants is a good practice and is common in the rental industry. Background screening is used to help ensure that individuals admitted to a property will abide by the terms of the lease, pay rent on time, and take care of the home. An effective background screening policy will also ensure fair, consistent, and equal treatment of applicants. All screening criteria adopted by an owner should be in writing and consistently applied to all applicants in a non-discriminatory fashion and in accordance with all applicable fair housing and civil rights laws. In order to minimize potential fair housing claims, owners should select the first approved qualified applicant.