A friend of mine recently decided to rent out his home and
he asked me what information he should consider looking for a renter. I gave him some quick suggestions in a text
and carried on with my day. I thought about
it more the following morning. It occurred to me it was an important topic to
explore. The previous article I posted
regarding free searches is a great place to being your screening when looking
for potential tenants.
Important information for future tenants may be the
following (but not limited to):
1.)
Credit report
2.)
Landlord referrals
3.)
Employment verification
4.)
Criminal record
5.)
Previous evictions
6.)
Social Media (Facebook, Myspace)
7.)
The accuracy of information provided on an
application
8.)
Pets
9,) Residence History
The more you know about your tenants, the better you will
feel with them renting your home.
There are many existing website
services that are more than capable of taking care of your needs with tenant screening.
These services can cost anywhere between 20 dollars and 40 dollars per person
screened. While these are very useful,
it might be in your best interest to screen the tenants as much as possible
before doing final checks. Doing this will save you some money.
Credit reports can be done by you,
however you need the prospective tenant to agree to it in writing as well as
indicating what the credit report is
for. You could also have a company like http://www.advantagetenant.com/ do
it for you.
Landlord referrals are a great way
to determine the type of tenant someone might be. However take what they say at face
value. Positive feedback from a previous
landlord does not indicate the tenant will be good for you.
Conduct employment
verification. You need to make sure your
tenants have money coming in to pay the rent.
Criminal records should also be
checked not only for yourself but your neighbors. Check court records online in the counties an
applicant has lived in. In Washington State
I search names at http://dw.courts.wa.gov/. Previous evictions would also be found in
court records along with Bankruptcies.
SOCIAL MEDIA- I can’t say it enough. Search social media. There is always something to be learned about
the character of an individual in social media.
Residence History is important as
this may determine whether someone has a history of staying in places for a
short time. If you are looking for a
long term lease, someone with a stable residence history might be the right
tenant for you.
I do not claim to be an expert
landlord but I felt these were some helpful suggestions if you plan on renting
your home future.
Some other companies I located that
appeared to be one stop shops for tenant screening were the following:
1.)
E-Renter http://www.e-renter.com/
2.)
Tenant Verification Services http://www.tenantverification.com/
3.)
Land Lord Station http://www.landlordstation.com/
I cannot vouch for these services nor do I endorse
them. They are listed to show the
varying services that are out there to help you. Also search for Landlord and Tenant laws in
your state to stay informed of your rights as well as your tenants rights.
As always you can find more information about me at
Fortified Investigative Services www.FortifiedIS.com
Or connect with us on Facebook
