Tenant background screening

The flip-side of renting out real estate is not renting out real estate, i.e., vacancies. When you have a vacancy, no one is paying for that empty space but you, through your mortgage, insurance, and all the expenses that come with making sure the place does not collapse from neglect. While filling a vacancy is easy, filling a vacancy with a tenant who will pay the rent on time, not annoy neighbors, and keep the property in decent shape is not so easy.

In order to weed out prospects that are likely to become headaches in the future, you need a plan. This plan is your system for screening the prospects. Without a plan, you are just taking a shot in the dark. In addition, given the current state of the law, it is illegal to treat applicants differently on the basis of race, sex, religion, and other characteristics. A plan that you follow consistently will help you avoid getting into difficulty for doing this or appearing to do it.

You don’t. Although an application is extremely helpful, always verify the information through an independent source. For example, rather than calling the telephone number provided by the tenant, use the Yellow Pages or directory assistance. Be sure to talk to Human Resources. 

Call your county auditor’s office to verify the name of the owner of each of the tenant’s past addresses. Then give the real owner a call. Ask the landlord if he would rent to them again. Did they give proper notice? Did they leave the property in good condition? Did they have pets? Did they pay on time and as agreed?

A credit report is one of the most important components in your tenant screening process. It serves to establish creditworthiness and show ON TIME or DELINQUENT PAYING HABITS. 

A credit report can also assist in establishing the identity of your prospective tenant by comparing their personal information to that entered on the rental application.