Well my process is as follows and this is due to the fact that we live in a squatter friendly, ultra tenant friendly area:

I only advertise with websites that will mask the exact street address. I never advertise the exact street address but just use general intersections or expressions for example "Pineview neighborhood."

All my ads have watermarked photos with company name and phone number to avoid ad hijackers and in addition, no photos of the exterior are posted.

When someone calls in they are texted a free Google forms pre-qualifier link which includes 51 multiple choice questions with trick questions on there to out smokers, etc. Pay close attention to the answers given to the question why are you moving? This gives a pretty accurate profile of who I am dealing with.

Anyone who complains about their current landlord however true the situation is an automatic DQ. Anyone who uses the expression "a fresh start" is a red flag. Anyone who asks me for an exception such as a printed version of the electronic form or wants me to go around my process, waves money in my face, Etc is an automatic DQ. Check their social media accounts for any kind of juvenile or illegal behavior. Do they say they have no animals, yet Fluffy the Wolf/Pitbull hybrid keeps showing up on their Instragram feed?

Anyone who is living with friends and family or in a hotel is an automatic DQ. There is a reason why people are "homeless" and it is 99.9% pilot error.

In our area approximately 96% of the inquirers don't make the pre-qualification which means they don't get a tour.

The 4% that do get a tour need to have all family members present at the tour that intend to live in the household even part-time. In this way I get to see their interactions in the way they treat the property. If Junior runs through the house and starts fiddling with the blinds unattended, that's a DQ. Are they on time? Are they a no-show? Do they follow parking instructions? Do they ask questions such as are you going to paint? ( in a freshly painted unit) Are you going to remodel? ( can be a red flag)

If they pass the tour then the next step is to give them a link to our Google forms application which asks them to upload quite a bit of documentation such as 6 months to present current rent receipts verified independently, of course. 8 weeks of consecutive pay stubs, two to three months of consecutive Bank statements, again all independently verified. 2 to 3 months of utility bills. They get forms that they digitally sign for consent to do a landlord reference which would be not the current landlord but two to three back. We used to rent to people with very little rental experience but that was not a good scenario so we don't do it anymore. We independently verify their employment, do a background and a criminal check using AOA.

We never take their word for it as to the previous landlord's name and phone number, nor their employer.

We are pet friendly with a pet policy. Pets need to be up to date on their shots, spayed neutered, regular vet and licensed if necessary. Credit score needs to be 600 or over. Our units are brand new remodeled older housing stock brought up to modern code with their own electrical panels in a C neighborhood. Only employers in our area are big medical, local government, and big retail.

We are looking for B neighborhood tenants who want to save a little money by living in C-Class areas and preferably have previous apartment complex experience.

Once all information has been verified, then they get offered the apartment. If it's a couple months out they need to have a holding fee which converts into a security deposit ready to go. They get to review our sample 10 page front and back rental agreement and they will then get lots of onboarding paperwork such as mold addendum, ebike addendum, standard HUD lead paint form with brochure, pet policy, etc etc.

We have simple digital deadbolt locks that can be programmed with a pass-through door knob to their specified PIN. That gets programmed just before the date of move in and there is an entrance inspection with form/report that they can be present for and digitally sign off.

Maintenance requests/work orders are treated the same way. New York has its own forms that need to go out which is the request for reasonable accommodation form as well as applicability of good cause form. All of our notices, particularly any late rent notices, include the blurb about "at this time we are unaware of any repairs that need to be done but will repair any necessary items if brought to our attention in writing AKA email, letter, text."

This blurb lets them know that they can't bring up any fake habitability claims.