For Applicants

What we look for in an application.

Please read this before you apply. We do not pre-screen applications — you screen yourself against the criteria below. The $50 application fee is non-refundable once we begin processing, so five minutes here can save you the money and the disappointment.

If you meet what is on this page, we would genuinely like you to apply. And if something here worries you, call us before you pay. We would rather talk it through than deny you.

See available homes Call 252-371-2527
The basics

Four things to know before you start.

$50 per adult

Every person 18 or older who will live in the home files a separate application and pays a separate $50 fee. The fee is non-refundable once processing starts.

We pull the reports

Credit, rental history, employment, and criminal background all come from sources we verify ourselves. You cannot supply your own credit report.

2–3 business days

You will get a written decision — approved, denied, or approved on other terms — within two to three business days of a complete application.

More than one applicant

A home may have several applications in hand. Meeting the criteria qualifies you; it does not by itself guarantee that home.

What we review

Seven factors, applied the same way to everyone.

Every application is measured against the same seven things, in the same order, regardless of who is applying.

1

Identification

Each applicant provides a legible government-issued photo ID. We verify that the person on the application is the person on the lease.

2

Income

Gross household income should be at least three times the monthly rent, and it has to be verifiable from a source that is not you.

  • Employed: recent pay stubs, or verification directly from your employer.
  • Self-employed: two years of signed tax returns, a CPA-prepared statement, or bank statements.
  • Relocating: a signed, accepted offer letter showing start date and pay.
  • Active-duty military: a current LES. Your orders should allow you to complete a 12-month lease.
  • Retired or not currently employed: tax returns, benefit award letters, or bank statements showing the ability to pay rent.
3

Employment history

We look for about three years of verifiable employment and roughly six months with your current employer. Permanent positions rather than temporary or probationary ones. If your history has a gap with a good explanation, tell us up front — we would rather hear it from you than find it.

4

Rental history

We verify three years of where you have lived, whether you rented or owned. You supply the names, addresses, and phone numbers of your landlords with the dates of tenancy; we contact them.

  • Home ownership is verified through the credit report.
  • Base and military housing counts as rental history.
  • An eviction or unlawful-detainer judgment within the past five years is grounds for denial.
  • A broken lease is looked at case by case, and may mean a higher deposit.
5

Credit

We obtain your credit report ourselves from a consumer reporting agency. We are looking for a pattern of paying on time rather than a perfect file. A combined score of 575 or higher is generally approved on the advertised terms.

  • Below 575 we look at the whole picture — income, rental history, and employment — and may still approve, case by case, sometimes with an additional deposit.
  • With more than one applicant we add the scores together and divide by the number of applicants.
  • Money owed to a previous landlord or a utility company is grounds for denial on its own, whatever the score is.
  • Medical debt and student loans are weighted differently from housing-related debt.
6

Criminal background and registry check

We run a criminal background and sex-offender registry check on every occupant 18 or older. Convictions involving violence, sex offenses, domestic violence, or the manufacture or distribution of weapons or controlled substances are grounds for denial.

  • We consider the nature, seriousness, and age of an offense, and evidence of rehabilitation. If there is something in your record you want considered, send us the details and we will look at it individually.
  • An arrest that did not lead to a conviction is not by itself a reason for denial.
  • We do not rent to individuals required to register as sex offenders. You can search the North Carolina registry yourself at sexoffender.ncsbi.gov.
7

Animals

Animal policies are set by each homeowner, so they vary from property to property. Ask us about the specific home before you apply.

  • No more than two animals per household without the owner’s written approval.
  • Assistance animals — service animals and approved emotional support animals — are not pets, are not charged pet fees, and are handled under fair housing law rather than this policy.
  • Restricted-breed dogs, where an owner permits them, require liability coverage of at least $100,000 naming Approved Property Management as additionally insured, provided before move-in.
  • Every animal needs current vaccination records and a photo.
Straight answers

What gets an application denied.

We would rather put this in writing than have you spend $50 finding out.

  • An eviction or unlawful-detainer judgment within the past five years.
  • An unpaid collection filed by a landlord or property manager, or money owed to a previous landlord or utility company.
  • Three or more late rent payments in the last twelve months.
  • Two or more returned payments in the last twelve months.
  • Leaving a previous tenancy without proper written notice.
  • A previous landlord who would not rent to you again because of conduct during the tenancy — yours, a household member’s, a guest’s, or an animal’s.
  • Allowing people who are not on the lease to live in the home.
  • Information we cannot verify. If we cannot confirm what you told us, we have to deny.
  • Falsified or omitted information anywhere in the application.
Deposits

How your security deposit is held.

North Carolina law is specific about this, and we follow it to the letter.

  • Held in a trust account with a North Carolina bank, or under bondN.C.G.S. § 42-50
  • You are told the bank’s name and address, in writingWithin 30 days
  • Deposit amount is capped by statute for your lease termN.C.G.S. § 42-51
  • Itemized accounting after move-outRequired by law
  • Deductions limited to unpaid rent, damage beyond normal wear, and other costs the statute allowsN.C.G.S. § 42-51

You may not need the cash at all

Qualified residents can move in without tying up a full cash security deposit. You stay accountable for damage and unpaid rent exactly as you would with a cash deposit — the money simply stays in your account instead of ours.

See deposit-free move-in
After you apply

What happens next, and how fast.

1

A decision in 2–3 business days

You are notified in writing: approved, denied, or approved on other terms. If you are denied because of something in a consumer report, we tell you which agency supplied it and how to get a free copy.

2

Sign within 2 business days

Approved applicants sign the lease within two business days of paying the security deposit. Past that, the application can be cancelled and the home offered to someone else.

3

Move in within 14 days

Leases on vacant homes start within fourteen days of approval. We cannot hold a home off the market longer than that without a signed lease.

Equal housing, in practice and not just on a badge

Approved Property Management complies with the federal Fair Housing Act and with North Carolina and local fair housing law. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, disability, or any other protected characteristic. An application form is available to anyone who asks for one, and every application is measured against the seven factors above.

If you have a disability and need a reasonable accommodation or modification at any point in this process — including in how you apply — tell us and we will work with you. Requests for modifications to a property require the owner’s approval and are handled under fair housing guidelines.

A few things to check yourself before applying: school assignment and district boundaries, which change and which you should confirm directly with the school district; whether the home is in an HOA and what its rules are; and any neighborhood information that matters to you. Details in a listing are given in good faith but do not form part of a lease.

This page is a plain-English summary of how we evaluate rental applications in Wilson, Wayne, Pitt, Greene, Lenoir, Craven, and Carteret counties. It is not a lease, not an offer, and not legal advice, and the criteria may change — the version in effect is the one published here on the day you apply. Individual homeowners may set additional requirements on their own properties, and some terms vary by home. Application fees are non-refundable once processing begins. Approved Property Management is a licensed North Carolina real estate firm and an Equal Housing Opportunity provider.

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