Tenant Screening

Importance of Background Checks Tenant Screening

One of the most unpleasant duties for an apartment landlord is to evict a tenant. This is a process that costs a lot of time, effort, and money. Although nonpayment of rent is a popular reason for eviction, it is not the only one. Destruction of property, excessive nuisance complaints, and criminal activity in the apartment are other good reasons to evict a tenant. In order to improve the chances of avoiding eviction, a landlord needs to do Tenant Screening via a comprehensive background, credit check and eviction record search. Today, it is no longer enough to rely on gut feeling when renting an apartment. Bad tenants have become very savvy at hiding a bad rental history or a bad credit report. This is why it is necessary to do comprehensive background checks on all applicants

One of the most important parts of Tenant Screening is to get that credit report. As a landlord, it is important to pick people who pay all of their bills on time. If there are any lapses in payment, they should have been temporary and occurred long ago in the past. Definitely avoid anyone who doesn’t have all accounts current at the time of application. The credit report can also help to verify the current address of the applicant. If the address on the credit report doesn’t match the one stated in the rental application, the landlord should request documentation such as a utility bill which proves that the address on the rental application is real.

Another important bit of information about an applicant that can be gotten from Tenant Screening is a criminal background check. This is when it’s desirable to have a clean record. Again, minor infractions that occurred long ago in the past might be OK if the rest of the application looks fine. On the other hand, more recent activity or serious crimes are a very bad sign. Is somebody who doesn’t respect the community and the law with criminal action going to respect property?

While collecting all of the information from the application and Tenant Screening, make sure to check the applicant’s photo ID. Also, make sure the photo matches the applicant’s face. Identity theft is a big problem in this country, so it’s important to compare the ID and the applicant.
background checks on people renting apartments