Having the right information is crucial in making decisions and you need to be able to gather verified and accurate information especially if it would entail deciding on who will rent your property. This is the reason why most real-estate owners or landlords ask for tenant screening services to verify the identity and credit information of the potential renter or risk having problems later. In this digital age, one is never sure of how much people say who they are is really true. One only has to hear about identity thefts and fake IDs and passports and start worrying that the one who rented your apartment might be a criminal, sex offender or God forbid a psychopath. It then becomes difficult to have your place rented or be in the market if it previously had a questionable renter, and you could not even ask for a higher price since people would not be comfortable in living in a space that had a negative past. Thus, it is necessary to take that extra step to know who your potential renters are and will they become your greatest tenants.
Tenant Screening Service
Tenant screening services is a host of services that are designed to perform a number of investigations into the identity, credit history, criminal history and eviction history of a potential tenant. It is like hiring your own personal investigator to verify that your renters will be good tenants, however, you only have to do this online and you can get the reports emailed to you in a matter of 2 to 3 days. The screening services can be as detailed as you want it to be, and it will not be obtrusive, your tenants would not know about it. You can then base your decision on whom to accept as tenants on this reports. You can be assured that the information gathered for the reports are valid and verifiable from national databases. The reports would be able to provide a picture of who your tenants could be and will they be great tenants in the future and will they be good partners in the care of your property.
How Does it Work?
If you are a first time landlord and you are still figuring out how to get about having your property rented and the intricacies of it, your best option is to run everything through your lawyers and make sure that all legal requirements and details are above board. After which, you can employ a real-property agent to ensure that your property will be shown to a number of potential renters, and if they are interested, they can submit their applications for your perusal and final decision. You can ask the would be tenant to pay for the screening services as one of the requirements for application and have the reports emailed to you, or you can pay for the screening reports yourself. If you do not want to spend for the reports, then the first would be a great choice but there are instances when renters would not agree to it and will back out from the application. If you would want to really assess your renters, then paying for it is a small fee to pay rather than having someone undesirable stay at your property. If the matter of who shoulders the screening report fee is settled, then you can proceed to order the said reports.
What is Contained in the Report?
Basically the tenant screening services report would check the identity of the applicant, his or her personal details such as current address, occupation, educational attainment, illnesses and criminal records. The criminal background report checks the applicants’ criminal records for up to ten years, thus any criminal violation or case in the past ten years will be reported. The report will be run through the FBI, DEA, ODAC and other federal database, as well as fraud alerts and identity verification. Moreover, an added check on sex-offender data and even speed tickets or minor violations will be checked. When it comes to trusting people with your property, you should be able to have all the knowledge that you need and even more.
The credit history report would include credit scores, credit accounts, payment history, bankruptcies and judgments on civil cases and other red flags such as previous mortgages and loans. Credit history report is one of the most important reports for the landlord as it will be indicative of whether the applicant is able to afford the property and will they be potential problems in the future if they cannot pay rent. On the other hand, ordering an eviction report would provide the landlord information on whether the applicant have been evicted before, and what where the situation then. The landlord is a better position to decide on whom to accept if he or she has prior knowledge about the renters.
Being able to order this reports from an online service provider makes it easy and accessible to the landlord and will maintain the anonymity of the credit and criminal background checks. Some people are really not comfortable with being subjected to a review or evaluation and some may see it as an invasion of privacy. In cases like this, or when the landlord does not want to spend for the tenant screening services, a rental application can also be had for free. You only need to supply the name and address of the applicant, and the service provider will send them a form that they complete and will then be sent to the landlord. This would still provide information, but will be limited to what the renter will put into the application. Supporting documents like identification cards, bank statements and certificate of employment can also be required.
It is said that a little knowledge is dangerous especially if it is not in context, however, knowledge is power if it is the right kind of knowledge and for a specific purpose. The businessman should always protect his investments, and it makes sense to choose the best person to be your tenant for years to come.
