Screening Tenants

Comments(8)

• 
  classimg3rd November, 2003

  Screening is not complicated nor should it be tedious. Create a questionnaire of important discussion points. "Job stability, payment/credit history, respect for use of the property, cleanliness, noise levels, work schedule, etc." Remember everyone can lie or present a pretty picture of their background. The screening process is similar to hiring an employee, you do not really know if you selected a good candidate until an amount of time has passed. Protect your investment with tenant incentives such as a rent rebate for timely payments and don’t forget to deliver a birthday card.
  
  Eric & Rosa
  [addsig]

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  egrinch3rd November, 2003

  There are some basic things to look for; get a credit report with an eviction record, previous rental history and employment record. If there are negative records, there should be a reasonable explanation and you should be able to verify it from third party. If your prospect is local, try to do a drive-by of the current residence. And remember the scammers are especially personable and convincing.
  [addsig]

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  davmille4th November, 2003

  Money is a big one. Don't let them talk you into reducing or eliminating the deposit. If they don't have the discipline to save for the deposit, they won't have the discipline to take care of someone else's property. On my nicest properties I actually require first and last month's rent along with the deposit which is considered high in my area. Make sure to do a criminal check.

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  3qu1ty4th November, 2003

  Beyond the obvious employment verification, definitely call all the references and have them list contact info for their landlord two places before. This guy will have not to lose or gain and will most likely give you the scoop on if rent was ever late or if the place was left in a mess. There are some relatively inexpensive credit checks out there. I would set your own personal cut-off limit before you run it and look for major delinquincies. Maybe even offer the application money back if they end up renting the place. Checking accounts are a strong plus because if everthing is in cash you have to wonder. [ Edited by 3qu1ty on Date 11/04/2003 ]

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  dare20034th November, 2003

  Is there a standard application that one could download from the net? For the basic application, criminal check, credit check?
  [addsig]

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  egrinch4th November, 2003

  An area that we haven't covered here is REJECTION. Fair Housing laws generally require that the same parameters are used for everyone. This does not mean that you cannot limit the size of family per residence or you cannot have flexibility in your requirements. It is best to have your requirements already printed someplace available for quick reference in case you have to justify your decision. I have been accused of discrimination more than once and having printed requirements settles that. It is best to establish limits on negative information and then look at the total picture. It would be possible to assign values to the areas you look at and then use a total score to determine eligibility. To sidestep discrimination complaints it is best to use a policy of accepting the first eligible applicant but I think you would be okay to set a date for a decision and then select the best one. Just be prepared to justify your decision if it is questioned.
  
  Remember, no discrimination on race, family, religion, etc.<IMG SRC="images/forum/smilies/icon_razz.gif"> [ Edited by egrinch on Date 11/04/2003 ]

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  jeffabb6th November, 2003

  Quote:
  On 2003-11-04 02:20, dare2003 wrote:
  Is there a standard application that one could download from the net? For the basic application, criminal check, credit check?
  
  
  
  I don't know if this is allowed, but there is an organization of National Association of Independant Landlords. I cannot post urls, but their site is like nail-usa (company ending). Do a search for them on your favorite search engine , that is how I found them. They have an application for rental, and will do independent credit checks (uses equifax, which you could do as well, but NAIL provides some additional services) for a fee. The application is very nice though, and in MS Word format (I type in my property address and rent/deposit amounts). Hope that helps!
  
  Jeff

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  3qu1ty17th November, 2003

  You can find some more good info in this post if you have not seen it already.
  http://www.thecreativeinvestor.com/ViewTopic15458-24-0.html