Recently, a prospective tenant sent a question to a real estate columnist asking for advice on how to find a rental home when the applicant has a bad history stemming from alcohol and drug abuse. The adviser had two suggestions: live in a treatment-related facility, or look for a rental property where the landlord won’t be running a tenant background check.
How does a prospective tenant find a rental where the landlord doesn’t do background checks? Troubled tenants look for troubled properties.
If you want to discourage such applicants from applying for your rental property, follow these steps:
Pay close attention to the curb appeal of your property. Safe, secure, well-maintained properties attract the best applicants.
State up front — on the phone and in your rental ads, that you require tenant background checks of all rental applicants under consideration.
Present yourself in a professional, well-informed manner each time you speak with applicants and tenants.
Ask about the prospective tenant’s background before you offer a tour of the property.
Consider obtaining a Crime Free Multi-Housing Certification to display for prospective tenants. Let prospects know that crime is a reason for eviction.
Explain to the applicant that you will be involved throughout the tenancy, conducting routine property inspections, and overseeing repairs and maintenance of the property.
There is a third option for the applicant with a troubled history. A landlord is not required to reject every rental applicant with a bad history. Perhaps, if the applicant is honest about his past troubles, he will find a landlord who is willing to take a chance on him as a tenant. Maybe he deserves the opportunity to rehabilitate his rental history. At the same time, his next landlord deserves to know what he or she is getting into, and to assess the degree of risk they are willing to undertake when providing rental housing.
If a landlord forgoes running tenant background checks, they place themselves at the mercy of the applicant to learn the whole truth.
This post is provided by Tenant Verification Service, Inc., helping landlords reduce the risks of renting with fraud prevention tools that include Tenant Screening, Tenant Background Checks, (U.S. and Canada), as well as Criminal Background Checks, and Eviction Reports (U.S. only).
Click Here to Receive Landlord Credit Reports.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this post in not intended to be construed as legal advice, nor should it be considered a substitute for obtaining individual legal counsel or consulting your local, state, federal or provincial tenancy laws.
