4 Tips for Proper Tenant Screening
Posted on February 7, 2009 in the Real Estate category
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Property crimes are at an all time high in today’s world, and landlords need to feel they can trust the person they are handing the keys over to. Tenant fraud involving property damage, unpaid monthly payments, false credit reports, and criminal activity has increased exponentially over the last few years. Tenant screening is an essential step in order to feel safe and trust the identity and record of the renter. Proper screening involves several steps, which will be outlined below.
1. Obtain adequate identification from the tenant. This step is a first round screening attempt to match the entries on the rental application for verification. Names, addresses, social security numbers (where applicable) should match and be double-checked for accuracy. Adequate identification includes drivers licenses, birth certificates, or a valid US passport.
2. A rental application is essential. It should include fields such as name, address, primary and secondary phone numbers, salary and work information, and bank accounts. The application should also ask questions relating to credit history, and their ability to make monthly rental payments based on their current salary and outstanding debts. The prospective tenant should also list two references who can be contacted for further screening and verification.
3. Obtaining a tenant background check is one of the most important actions a landlord can perform. These reports provide a detailed list of criminal activity, nationwide arrests, and sex offender status. They also detail the tenant’s personal information which should be compared to the rental application for accuracy.
These checks will also display employment history, previous addresses, and alias information. As stated previously, these fields should be double-checked against the rental application to detect any possible errors or possible forgeries. This information could raise some red flags if certain fields are misrepresented or inaccurate.
4. The last essential factor involves obtaining a credit history. This information should be included in the tenant background check. The report should include late payments, bankruptcies, and specific addresses of residence. These reports should play a major part in the landlord’s decision making process.
Sometimes landlords neglect to run a background check due to the fees involved. In the real estate market, it is a common, if not a mandatory practice to charge the renters the fee for the check in the rental application fee. All fees should be paid upfront and should cover all aspects of the process. The landlord is not responsible for these fees. If the renter complains, then a landlord should consider this a part of the screening process, and should seriously consider the character of this individual as a possible tenant.
Whether you are the landlord of a single unit or an extensive complex, tenant screening is not only a good practice, but it will save you money and time in the long run. Good renters are hard to come by and unfortunately there are more horror stories than good. You do not have to be one of those victims. Simple tenant screening with tenant background checks will give you all of the information you need to make the right decision.
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We’ve had people calling on a house for rent. The whole tenant thing is interesting.