In today's world, crime and corruption is at an all time high and landlords need to feel safe and secure when the key to their property is being handed over to a stranger. There has been a steady increase in tenant fraud, involving property damage, unpaid monthly payments, criminal activity, and false credit reports. Tenant screening is an essential process to ensure the prospective renter qualifies to live in the property. Proper screening involves many different aspects, some of the most important being discussed here.
1. Obtain proper identification from the tenant. Verification of the entries on the rental application is a first round screening attempt. Names, addresses, social security numbers (where applicable) should match and be correctly verified for accuracy. Proper identification would include drivers licenses, birth certificates, or a valid US passport.
2. Require the tenant to fill out an extensive rental application. The application should include at a minimum the name, current and previous addresses, primary and secondary phone numbers, work and salary information, and bank accounts. Also included should be a section on credit history, with questions directly related to their ability to make payments with their current salary and expenses. In addition, the prospective renter should be able to list at least two references the landlord can contact for further verification. These items are essential; the rest is up to the jurisdiction of the landlord.
3. The most important aspect of tenant screening involves obtaining accurate tenant background checks. These reports will detail extensive information involving issues such as criminal activity and sex offender status. It will also outline the same information provided on the rental application which can be compared and evaluated. In addition, the check should include nationwide arrests and activity, not just in the state of application.
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.
Nowadays, you cannot rely on intuition to properly screen a potential renter. There are numerous resources such as tenant background checks, as explained above, that you can access to effectively allow you to obtain all of the information you need. In today's world, good renters are hard to come by, and you need all of these tools to make an educated decision and to potentially save you thousands of dollars and hours of heartache. Tenant screening is not difficult, yet the reward is knowing that you and your family, as well as your property, are safe and secure and away from harm. - 15437
1. Obtain proper identification from the tenant. Verification of the entries on the rental application is a first round screening attempt. Names, addresses, social security numbers (where applicable) should match and be correctly verified for accuracy. Proper identification would include drivers licenses, birth certificates, or a valid US passport.
2. Require the tenant to fill out an extensive rental application. The application should include at a minimum the name, current and previous addresses, primary and secondary phone numbers, work and salary information, and bank accounts. Also included should be a section on credit history, with questions directly related to their ability to make payments with their current salary and expenses. In addition, the prospective renter should be able to list at least two references the landlord can contact for further verification. These items are essential; the rest is up to the jurisdiction of the landlord.
3. The most important aspect of tenant screening involves obtaining accurate tenant background checks. These reports will detail extensive information involving issues such as criminal activity and sex offender status. It will also outline the same information provided on the rental application which can be compared and evaluated. In addition, the check should include nationwide arrests and activity, not just in the state of application.
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.
Nowadays, you cannot rely on intuition to properly screen a potential renter. There are numerous resources such as tenant background checks, as explained above, that you can access to effectively allow you to obtain all of the information you need. In today's world, good renters are hard to come by, and you need all of these tools to make an educated decision and to potentially save you thousands of dollars and hours of heartache. Tenant screening is not difficult, yet the reward is knowing that you and your family, as well as your property, are safe and secure and away from harm. - 15437
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Protect yourself from tenant fraud. Get a tenant background check today! Avoid the loss of time, money, and property value. Determine how to prevent the common pitfalls with proper tenant screening.
