Overview
RentEngine prescreening stops unqualified leads and scammers before they schedule a showing. You control prescreening through Prescreening Templates, which define requirements, questions, and rejection logic.
Fraud Guard adds additional identity and fraud protection for self-guided showings.
This article explains how to create prescreening templates, assign them to properties, and configure Fraud Guard.
What prescreening does
Prescreening lets you:
Set minimum credit and income requirements
Ask custom questions
Automatically allow or reject prospects based on responses
Collect information without rejecting when needed
Prescreening is done before a prospect schedules a showing.
Create a prescreening template
Go to Settings → Showings → Prescreening
Select an existing template, or click New template
Click the pencil icon to name the template
Click Set as default if you want this template applied to new vacancies automatically
You can create multiple templates, and assign them to the relevant units.
Custom message
Add a short message (up to 160 characters) that prospects see while completing the prescreening. This is optional and useful for setting expectations or providing context before they answer questions.
Set credit and income requirements
Use the sliders to define:
Minimum credit
Minimum income
If you'd like the prospect to answer with exact numbers instead of ranges, click Ask for the credit and income as free text instead of pre-defined ranges
Then, if you don't want the prescreening to ask for credit and income, click Bypass pre-screening income & credit questions
Note: Even if you bypass the pre-screening income and credit questions, we still recommend setting your minimum so the AI knows how to respond to questions about minimum rental requirements.
Configure prescreening questions
You can ask questions that require a Yes/No, free text, or date response.
Yes/No questions allow you to set rejection logic:
Yes
Rejects prospects who answer YesNo
Rejects prospects who do not answer YesDo not reject (informational)
Collect the response without affecting eligibility
Use informational questions when you want visibility without blocking showings.
Housing voucher question
The first question is always about housing vouchers. If a prospect has a housing voucher, you can choose to bypass the income and/or credit requirements for them based on the setting you select here.
The AI Voucher Communications dropdown controls what RentEngine AI tells prospects about voucher acceptance — independently of your rejection logic:
Default — The AI follows the question's rejection logic
Communicate that vouchers ARE accepted — The AI tells prospects vouchers are accepted, regardless of rejection logic
Communicate that vouchers ARE NOT accepted — The AI tells prospects vouchers are not accepted, regardless of rejection logic
This is useful for legal compliance in states where you cannot reject solely based on having a voucher, while still controlling what the AI communicates to prospects.
Note: We don't recommend removing this question, as it creates confusion about whether the property accepts housing vouchers.
Preferred move-in date question
This fixed question asks prospects for their preferred move-in date. You can set rejection logic based on:
Custom override — Reject if the requested date is more than X days from the unit's earliest move-in date (you set the number)
Portfolio — Reject if the date exceeds the "Property can be held for … days" value in your Portfolio Defaults
Do not reject (informational) — Collect the date without rejecting based on it
Add or remove questions
Click New to add a question
Click the trash icon to remove a question
Order and number matter. We don't recommend adding more than 4 questions.
Configure Fraud Guard for the template
Each prescreening template includes its own Fraud Guard settings (see below).
Configure these before saving.
Save the template
Click Save in the top right to apply changes.
Assign a prescreening template to a vacancy
To assign a template to an active unit:
Open the Properties tab
Click Take action → Edit property
On the final page, select the Prescreening Template from the dropdown
Save your changes by pressing Finish
The template applies immediately.
What prospects see
When scheduling a showing, prospects:
Answer prescreening questions
Complete any required Fraud Guard verification steps
Are approved or rejected automatically
Rejected prospects are not able to schedule a showing but they are able to resubmit the prescreening.
You can test the prescreening flow by clicking the Schedule Showing button on your website's listing page.
Note: For rejected prescreenings, the system does not tell the prospect why they were rejected in order to prevent them from resubmitting with false information.
Fraud Guard explained
Fraud Guard is RentEngine’s built-in fraud prevention system for self-guided showings. It goes beyond basic ID checks to stop scams before access is granted.
ID verification
Check Require a valid photo ID to verify that IDs are real, valid documents. Additional options appear when enabled:
Require a matching selfie and liveness check — Prospects must take a live selfie. RentEngine compares it to the ID and confirms the person is physically present. This blocks static images and screenshots.
Skip ID check if pre-screening criteria are not met — Skips ID verification for prospects who don't meet other requirements
Allow IDs without an expiry date — Accepts IDs that don't include an expiration date
Allow expired IDs for up to X days — Enter a number of days (0–365) to accept IDs that expired recently
Minimum age — Set a minimum age requirement (18–100)
Selfie and liveness check
Prospects must take a live selfie.
RentEngine:
Compares the selfie to the ID
Confirms the person is physically present
Prevents use of stolen or copied IDs
Liveness checks block static images and screenshots.
Phone number verification
Fraud Guard verifies the phone number is a real U.S. cellular number.
This prevents scammers who use VOIP numbers to access anonymously.
Location verification
At lockbox access time:
The prospect’s device must be at the property
GPS location is checked in real time before they can get the access code to start the showing
You can customize the GPS radius.
Recommended setting: 0.5 miles
This prevents remote code sharing by scammers.
Self-guided showing fraud warning
Enter a custom message shown to prospects before they start a self-guided showing. You can include {{ re_leasing_phone_number }} to insert your leasing phone number. Click Restore Default to reset to the standard anti-fraud disclaimer.
If left blank, no fraud warning will be shown to prospects at self-guided showings.
Troubleshooting
Prospects are getting rejected unexpectedly
Review question logic (Yes vs No)
Confirm income/credit settings
Check voucher acceptance settings
Self-guided access isn’t working
Confirm Fraud Guard is enabled
Check GPS radius settings
Verify ID and selfie steps completed
If issues persist, contact RentEngine support via chat with:
The property address
A description of what happened
Any applicable screenshots or prospects affected