How does ARCH work?

Can tenant screening software help end homelessness? Through Centralization, Screening, and Support we can reframe the traditional screening process and help renters find and maintain safe and secure housing.

  1. Centralization

    ARCH by HomeScreen acts as a centralized housing database for nonprofit housing liaisons. Without ARCH, nonprofits have to search multiple housing websites, fill out multiple applications, pay multiple application fees, and hope the landlord will accept their client’s application. With ARCH, our Landlords opt-in to the system because they understand our goal and want to help house people who are currently or at risk of homelessness. They can list their criteria right on the platform, along with their preferred contact information to answer additional questions. Once you submit one ARCH application, we can duplicate the application for multiple available properties without charging the applicant or agency an additional fee.

  2. Screening

    ARCH Landlords utilize HomeScreen’s tenant screening platform to perform a credit check, a national criminal background check, a national eviction search, and income verification. HomeScreen will send the Landlord a recommendation and each Landlord will use their own criteria for approving or denying the application. Before applying and paying the non-refundable application fee, we strongly recommend contacting the Landlord to verify the applicant could be approved.

    HomeScreen will recommend the applicant if the applicant has:

    • no violent felony convictions in the past 10 years

    • no negative rental references in the past five years; if they have been homeless or not on a lease for the past five years, this will not negatively affect our recommendation

    • and the gross household income is at least 3x the rent the applicant is required to pay; HomeScreen will factor in any vouchers or other rental assistance programs

    Pre-Screening

    Some applicants may not know if they will meet the Landlord’s screening criteria. ARCH users have the ability to run a Pre-Screening on the Applicant to obtain their national criminal background and national eviction reports before submitting the full application.

    Pre-Screening can also be used by nonprofit ARCH users for:

    • volunteer screening

    • new hire screening

    • securing employment or benefits

    Pre-Screening reports cost $25 per report.

  3. Support

    Once an ARCH applicant is approved, HomeScreen will begin our follow-up support with the Landlord, the nonprofit liaison, and the renter. We commit to helping keep all ARCH applicants stably housed for a year after they are approved to move in. We also commit to help all ARCH Landlords take an anti-eviction approach, and HomeScreen can elicit professional mediation services as issues arise. We are committed to making ARCH tenancies successful for all parties.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • ARCH by HomeScreen: At-risk Renters’ Connection to Housing is the first-of-its-kind database of landlords and their available rental units, listed to nonprofit social service providers seeking housing for their clients. ARCH by HomeScreen landlords know that the renters working with the social service providers will likely have less than perfect screenings, that have acted as a barrier to securing safe and stable housing in the past.

  • Landlords who wants to list their properties on ARCH by HomeScreen can register here.

    Any non-profit agency that works to find housing for their clients can become a ARCH by HomeScreen user. Contact ella@myhomescreen.org to create an account.

  • If you are facing eviction or homeless please reach out to:

    If you need legal assistance, please reach out to

    If you are in need of other services, like access to food, health care, or employment

  • ARCH by HomeScreen will make a recommendation, but the final approval or denial is always up to the landlord.

    By participating in ARCH by HomeScreen, our landlords know they will be working with tenants who have barriers to housing and most at-risk of homelessness.

    HomeScreen will educate our landlords participating in ARCH by HomeScreen on the benefits of working with your clients. We will also give you the opportunity to explain your program and your client’s unique circumstance directly to the landlord before submitting the application and paying the application fee. Remember: the landlord will ultimately approve or deny the application, not ARCH by HomeScreen.

  • The fee is $50 per person.

    However, one of the benefits of ARCH is that your application may be shared with multiple landlords in our platform without charging an additional fee.