Part 1 is the wizard. Screening and the lease come after you accept that part. Set the questions and the fee rules before you share the listing link, so every applicant on that vacancy walks the same path. How to keep that path consistent is in a fair application policy you can enforce.
The twelve steps
The progress list on the application is fixed. Applicants move through:
- Personal info
- Emergency contact
- Rental history
- Employment and income
- Occupants (optional)
- Pets (optional)
- Vehicles (optional)
- Insurance (optional)
- References
- Questions
- Attachments
- Review and submit
Optional steps stay on the list. An applicant with no pets still passes that step; they do not get a shorter form because someone on your team decided pets “do not apply this time.” Listed rent and deposit, when the rental has them, stay visible while they work so the application matches the listing.
Questions you add
Step 10 shows the questions you created under Manager → Questions. Each question has text, a type, a required flag, and a sort order. Types are short text, long text, yes/no, number, and date. If you have not added any, the step is empty and the applicant continues.
Add a question only when you will use the answer on every file for that vacancy. Required means they cannot submit past a blank. It does not mean the question is a good one. Skip anything that sorts people by a protected characteristic. The same question set is what you can point to later.
Attachments stay on the file
Step 11 asks for proof of identity, proof of income, and rental proof. Income and rental each have a “does not apply” option. Other documents, such as pet vaccination records, are optional. Accepted files are PDF, JPG, PNG, DOC, and DOCX, up to 10 MB each. The applicant sees what they already uploaded, with category and time, and can remove a file before submit.
Those files are what you open from the application. A photo in a text thread is not on the record. After move-in, keep later leases and notices on the tenant the same way — that habit is covered in keeping leases, photos, and notices on the right record.
What you do after they submit
Open Tenants → Applications and review the file. Emergency contact, rental history, employment and income, pets, vehicles, and attachments can be approved or declined on their own, with a note. Approve or decline the application when the sections you required are done.
Accepting Part 1 is what lets you opt them into Part 2 (Checkr) or skip screening when that is the rule for this file. Part 3 is the deposit and lease. Who pays the screening fee, and what the applicant sees on the card screen, is in application fees. The screen map is leasing and screening.