How to Find and Screen the Right Tenant for Your South African Investment Property

How to screen tenants in South Africa is the question that determines whether your rental property is a source of income or a source of ongoing stress. Genevieve’s journey as a landlord included two very different tenant experiences — a management company that did not serve her, tenants who left damage behind, and then a personally known tenant who was excellent in most ways but created a different kind of friction.

What she learned from both is that the quality of your tenant experience is almost entirely determined before the tenant moves in. The decisions you make at the screening stage or skip at the screening stage, are the ones you live with for the duration of the lease.

Why Tenant Screening Matters More Than Most Landlords Realise

According to the PayProp State of the Rental Industry Survey, over 50 percent of rental agents in South Africa cite finding quality tenants as their top challenge. That is not a coincidence, it reflects the reality that a poor tenant decision costs significantly more than the time saved by skipping the screening process.

Unpaid rent, property damage, difficult evictions, and the legal costs that come with all of the above can turn a profitable investment into an expensive problem. The Rental Housing Act and the 2025 rental law updates give tenants stronger protections and landlords clearer procedures but those procedures take time and money to navigate. Prevention through thorough screening is always cheaper than remedy through the Tribunal.

The Screening Process: Step by Step

Step 1 — Run a Credit Check Through TPN

TPN Credit Bureau is the standard for South African residential rental screening. A TPN credit check gives you the tenant’s payment history on previous rentals, their credit score, any judgements or defaults, and their current debt obligations. It is the single most important piece of information in your screening process.

The general rule is that a tenant’s total monthly debt commitments, including rent, should not exceed 30 percent of their gross monthly income. Verify affordability by requesting three months of payslips or bank statements alongside the TPN check.

Step 2 — Verify Employment and Income

Call the employer directly, do not rely solely on a payslip. Confirm that the person works there, confirm their position, and ask whether their employment is permanent or fixed-term. A fixed-term employee whose contract ends mid-lease is a risk that a payslip alone does not reveal.

This is an unpopular step especially if you are the tenant to be however from a landlord perspective this is a valuable step.

For self-employed applicants, request six months of bank statements and the most recent two years of financial statements or tax returns. Self-employed income is more variable, build this into your risk assessment.

Step 3 — Contact Previous Landlords

This step is skipped more often than any other and it is one of the most valuable. A previous landlord who had a difficult experience with a tenant will almost always tell you if you ask directly. Ask specifically: Did they pay on time? Did they give proper notice? What was the condition of the property when they left? Would you rent to them again?

Be aware that some applicants provide fake references. Call the number independently rather than using the contact provided by the applicant — search for the property management company or landlord’s contact details yourself.

Step 4 — Do a Property Inspection Before Signing

Before any lease is signed, conduct a joint inspection of the property with the prospective tenant and document the condition of everything in writing: walls, fixtures, appliances, windows, carpets, and garden. Both parties sign the inspection report. This document protects both the tenant’s deposit and your property when the lease ends.

Genevieve’s experience with window joints and repainting after her first tenants left would have been significantly easier to resolve and potentially recoverable from the deposit with a properly documented in-going inspection report.

The Lease Agreement — Where Everything Is Confirmed

Once a tenant passes your screening process, the lease agreement is where every term of the relationship is formalised. Under the Rental Housing Act, both verbal and written leases are legally binding but a written lease provides far stronger protection in any dispute. Use a TPN lease agreement as your base, it is the industry standard in South Africa.

Ready to learn? Rental Agreement Fundamentals and Income Strategies — R697