Rental applications exist to help property managers assess risk. They set standard criteria to evaluate whether interested applicants are likely to pay rent consistently and without strain. 

As a renter, one of the first steps toward securing a home is showing that your income or assets meet the property’s standards. The documents you provide—and how you provide them—play a key role in determining whether your application can move forward smoothly.

In recent years, property managers have had to get smarter about checking the validity of income information as rental fraud has become more prevalent. 

Software like Findigs was created to make the process of reaching an approval as simple as possible for applicants, while allowing property managers to securely verify these sensitive details. For this reason, the documents you share must not only show the information, but meet certain requirements for the sake of confirming the authenticity of the information. This article is meant to help you get it right the first time around. 

Account linking: the fast and secure path

The fast and secure path for income verification is sometimes referred to as bank or payroll “linking.” With this route, an applicant can provide limited, view-only access to an account that shows their ability to pay rent.

This method requires less human review overall, and is protected by bank-level encryption, making it the ideal verification option for both speedy review and secure access to the information the property manager is looking for. When the transactions themselves are available for systematic assessment, no documents need to be downloaded, uploaded, sent, saved, or interpreted by anybody.

However, connecting a bank or payroll account isn’t always an option. Not everyone has a digital account that’s reflective of their available assets. Findigs uses third-party financial linking software to establish these secure connections, and sometimes those connections themselves are unsuccessful. Whatever the reason, you may decide you need to upload documents in order to prove you’re ready to rent a home. If you’re taking the document upload path, or have been asked to provide documents because of a problem with account linking, here’s how to make sure those documents get verified by our team the first time you share them.

Income document checklist

To keep things moving, your income documents should check a few key boxes:

• Original PDFs: Always download documents directly from their source, using the direct download functionality from your bank or payroll provider). Screenshots, cropped images, edited PDFs, or files created using the “Print to PDF” feature in your bank or payroll portal won’t work—they may be flagged because they don’t contain the typical marks of an authentic document, which software is designed to look for. 

For bank statements or paystubs, you can typically grab original PDFs by signing onto your online bank or payroll portal, navigating to “statements” (bank) or “paystubs” (payroll) and downloading the collection you need. 

Certain documents simply don’t exist in digital form. Of course, if you need to share a document that was only ever mailed to you, then an image of the document will be accepted. What won’t be accepted is a screenshot of a digital document. 

• Complete time period coverage: Properties require proof of income from a specific timeframe—often the last 30, 60, or 90 days. In Findigs, you can check the approval requirements in your renter dashboard so you know what’s needed.
• Clear income details: Make sure your name, pay period, and deposit amounts are all visible. Blurry scans or incomplete documents could delay your application.
• Employer info (if applicable): If you’re submitting a paystub or offer letter, it should list your employer’s name and contact details. Offer letters should also include your start date, salary, and your new employer’s official email address—property managers may reach out to your employer to verify the information you’ve shared.

Why it counts to be comprehensive

When you’re uploading documents like bank statements or paystubs to verify income from a job, it’s important to make sure that all income from the time period covered by your documents is included. This is because our system (a combination of computerized and human review) looks at the full date range your statements cover, and calculates an average based on the income shown during that time. Averaging income over 90 days enables fair comparison between people who receive income on a regular schedule, and those whose income might be more variable, like gig workers, tipped employees, or anyone with shifting hours.

To make sure that average is accurate, it’s essential that these documents reflect all the income you earned over the time period covered by your documents. For example, if you upload an October paystub and a December paystub, but skip everything in between, the system will calculate as if you only earned income in October and December—which could make your income appear much lower than it actually was. This is why it matters to share consecutive statements: October through December. The more complete your documents are, the easier it is for our team to share an accurate picture of your income, and the faster you’ll have your decision.

How to check income requirements

Different properties have different income criteria. Often the threshold you (or your collective group) needs to meet will be a ratio of the rent price. For example, a property may require you to show 2.5 rent-to-income; if the rent for a unit is $1,000/mo, you’d need to show at least $2,500/mo to qualify for that particular unit.

The good news? Findigs makes these requirements easy to check. Log into your account, and head to the Approval Requirements section in the application details. Knowing what’s expected upfront helps you avoid unnecessary back-and-forth and helps ensure you only go through the trouble of applying—and paying application fees—when you’re reasonably confident you meet the income requirements.

What happens if documents aren’t verified?

Our goal is to help you meet the income requirement set by the property manager. At Findigs, we act as a bridge between the property's criteria and the income or assets you provide. We work hard to verify every dollar so it counts toward your verified income total. However, if the documents you upload aren’t recognizable or valid in our system, we won’t be able to include that income.

If your documents can’t be verified, our team will reach out to help resolve the issue. This could be due to any of the checklist items above—for example, the document may not be an original PDF, it might not cover the required timeframe, or you may not have shown enough income yet. Keep in mind that these resolution steps often follow a set timeline determined by the property manager. This ensures that if an applicant or applicant group becomes unresponsive, the unit can eventually become available to other renters.

Final tips for a smooth application

The easiest way to avoid document troubles entirely is to opt to link your bank or payroll account when you apply. This option:

• Speeds up processing because you won’t have to wait for documents to be validated
• Reduces the chance of document errors or rejections
• Keeps your information secure with encrypted bank connections

Of course, if there’s an issue linking your bank or payroll account, or you don’t have access to an online portal, you may need to upload documents instead. If that’s the case, it’s important to be in the loop on what’s required in order to keep your application moving.

Double-check property requirements before uploading—you’ll find them in your renter dashboard.

If you have multiple income sources, upload documents for each one.

Download docs from their original source: Don’t edit, crop, or screenshot documents—it could require our team to reach out for new documents, which can significantly delay the review process.

Need help? Check your renter dashboard or reach out to our team for support. Our goal is always to help you prove your income qualifications as quickly and seamlessly as possible.

By submitting the right documents upfront (or linking your bank for instant verification), you can get approved faster and move one step closer to your new home.