Tenant Verification Services provides landlords and property managers with a variety of screening options. Select a market to sign up or learn more.
Economy may be recovering, but housing numbers show thousands still struggling The number of households on social housing waiting lists across Ontario has jumped nearly 18% to 152,077 over the last two years, according to a report just released by the Ontario...
Experts Help You Stay Out of the Newspaper -- and the Courtroom Bed bug infestations are increasingly showing up in hotels, apartments, dormitories, shelters, homes, public transportation—and virtually any concentrated public area. Because of the increased urgency of...
The Québec Landlord Association views a new amendment to the rental laws there with some skepticism. The new law states that when an elderly person is admitted for residential or long term care, they are allowed to cancel the lease, subject to a requirement that they...
She used a fake name, listed her mother as her previous landlord reference and has an eviction record a mile long. She also has been accused of forgery. Oh-- and she stole her previous landlord's refrigerator. But that hasn't stopped her from finding rental homes....
Receptionist Also Charged for Conveying Discriminatory Message After advertising one of his three residential units for rent, a New Hampshire chiropractor ordered his receptionist to tell applicants that he would not allow children. When one mother protested, the man...
Security deposits offer tremendous value for landlords. By deducting expenditures directly from the funds set aside at lease signing, the landlord saves the trouble of chasing down the tenant to collect for minor damages. A security deposit offers incentive for the...
No, she didn't pull someone from a burning building, or rescue a kitten stranded up a tree, but this landlord is still a hero-- for proving that by doing things right, landlords can win against unscrupulous tenants. Two roommates brought their landlord before the...
When it comes to spelling out a landlord's rights and responsibilities, nothing beats a well-written lease agreement. But it is a mistake for a landlord to underestimate the importance of another crucial document -- the rental application, when it comes to making a...
Ontario's Human Rights Commission Chief is speaking out about a rental bylaw in Waterloo. Her concerns include stringent new occupancy standards and burdensome licensing requirements that could discourage landlords from offering much- needed rental housing. A bylaw...
What do landlords in Tuscon have in common with rental property owners in Newport Beach? Both live in fear of being marked with a Scarlet Letter. Drawing on Tuscon's practice of 'red-flagging' properties where noise ordinance violations are said to occur, Newport...
There are a number of reasons a tenant may want to break the lease: relocation for a new job, a chance at buying a home, or unexpected expenses that force them to move in with family. But lease-breakers can cost both time and money, and you may not have calculated...
Doctors Discover Bedbugs With Drug-Resistant Disease Although not conclusive, doctors have come across evidence that bedbugs could spread infectious diseases. Bedbug infestations have become commonplace lately, probably due to an increase in international travel...
Three landlords now share a similar fate-- they each were recently scammed by a deadbeat tenant claiming to be a millionaire. According to a news report, this "millionaire tenant" was able to secure three different rental properties without verification of his income,...
You know you are in bad shape when a professional junk hauler refuses to clean up your rental property after your tenant destroyed it. But that's what happened to one landlord, who shared his story in his local newspaper. Desperate, the landlord also asked the city...
When surveyed, tenants consistently choose responsiveness as the top landlord quality they value. Yet, many good landlords are under-appreciated for one simple reason: they only interact with problem tenants. A year can fly by, and the landlord has not communicated...
Mold growing inside a rental property can trigger health concerns for tenants and cause damage to surfaces. Mold only grows where it finds moisture. High moisture levels can be the result of water coming in from the outside, through the floor, walls or roof, or from...
While a tenant eviction may feel like the worst case scenario, losing an eviction--and owing the tenant money in the end, is even worse. Before you start down that path, ask yourself the following questions first: 1. Have you tried to resolve the problem short of an...
Most landlords know that 500 is bad, and 700 is great. Most are happy to see 600. But do you know what your tenant's FICO® score really means? There is a lot of different credit data that goes into a FICO® calculation: Payment History For the general population,...
We are often asked whether a Social Security number is required to screen tenants. What if an applicant refuses to supply the number--can a landlord reject them? Can a landlord ask an existing tenant for the number if they didn't get it during the initial...
“While discrimination may not be intentional, it has the same impact: people of color and immigrants face bias in the rental market,” says Housing Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees the Portland Housing Bureau. Data from a recent survey conducted there shows that...
