> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rentsmart.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Auto Denial Rules

> The income, credit, criminal, and eviction thresholds that auto-deny households that don't qualify.

Auto Denial Rules let RentSmart's screening AI automatically deny households that don't meet your minimum requirements. Set them once globally, and any property can override them individually.

## Where to find them

**Global Settings → Auto Denial Rules** at [app.rentsmart.com/global-settings](https://app.rentsmart.com/global-settings).

To override the global rules on a specific property, open that property and click **Edit** on the **Auto Denial Rules** widget.

## How rules are applied

When every household member's Profile is validated and TransUnion reports come back, the screening AI checks each report against your rules:

* **Hardline rules** — failing any one of these auto-denies the entire household. Every member automatically receives an Adverse Action Letter.
* **Soft tolerances** — households that fail by a small margin are still delivered to you for a final decision, not auto-denied.

<Note>
  Only **Rent-to-Income Ratio** and **Minimum Credit Score** have soft tolerances. Every other rule is hardline.
</Note>

## The five sections

### Base minimum requirements

The two core financial thresholds, both with soft tolerances:

* **Rent-to-Income Ratio** — how many times monthly rent the household must earn in gross monthly income. Options range from *Any Ratio* to *5×*.
  * **Soft tolerance:** households within **0.5× below** still appear for your review.

* **Minimum Credit Score** — the lowest acceptable household-average credit score. Options range from *Any Credit Score* to *725*.
  * **Soft tolerance:** households within **50 points below** still appear for your review.

### Financial history denials

Hardline. Check only the conditions that should auto-deny:

* A collection account for past-due rental balances
* A foreclosure within the last *X* years
* A bankruptcy within the last *X* years
* *X* or more past-due rent or mortgage payments in the last 12 months
* *X* or more NSF transactions in the last 12 months
* *X* or more negative bank balance occurrences in the last 12 months

Leave any unchecked to ignore that condition.

### Criminal history denials

<Warning>
  Criminal history rules vary widely by state and city law. **Review your local fair-housing rules before enabling any criminal-history denial.** RentSmart does not enforce jurisdiction-specific limits for you.
</Warning>

Four options:

* Any felony record
* Felony for a violent crime
* Any misdemeanor record
* Misdemeanor involving theft

### Eviction history denials

First, set a **lookback window** — *None*, *1 year*, *3*, *5*, *7*, *10*, *15*, or *No Limit*. Setting it to *None* disables eviction screening entirely.

Then check which eviction outcomes are disqualifying within that window:

* A writ of possession was issued
* A dispossessory action was filed but dropped more than once
* A dispossessory action was filed but dropped only once

### Additional requirements

A free-form text area for criteria the structured fields don't cover (e.g., "Must have 12+ months at current employer"). The screening AI factors these in alongside everything above.

<Warning>
  **Fair-housing reminder:** Custom criteria cannot discriminate on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability. The AI ignores criteria that would violate these protections.
</Warning>

## Global vs. per-property

Auto Denial Rules and [Pet Policy](/screening-rules/pet-policy) are configured **independently** on each property — a property can use the global Auto Denial Rules but a custom Pet Policy, or vice versa.

To override the global rules for one property, open the property, click **Edit** on the **Auto Denial Rules** widget, choose **Custom Settings**, and set property-specific values. Switching back to **Use Global Settings** any time will restore the global rules.

## What household members see

If a household is auto-denied by hardline rules, every member of the household receives an **Adverse Action Letter** by email — automatically, with no action required from you. The letter cites the specific TransUnion report data point that triggered the denial.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Pet Policy" icon="paw" href="/screening-rules/pet-policy">
    Configure what pets you allow, fees, and breed/weight restrictions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Reviewing a household" icon="file-check" href="/households/review-household">
    What to do when a household reaches you for a final decision.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>