What to Look For to Screen Potential Tenants Effectively

1#: Verify their identity

Verifying their identity by asking a few simple questions can make a huge difference. It’s a great way to weed out problematic tenants without wasting your time and your chance to assess their character.

You can also run a background check by checking their social media footprint to gauge their lifestyle and see how they would treat your property. This step is critical to ensure your tenants are who they say they are, but it’s often overlooked by landlords when screening potential tenants.

If you suspect a potential tenant might not be who they claim to be or they have red flags in their application, then it’s a sign for you to not go through with the lease and move on to the next applicant.

#2: Ask for proof of employment and income

The second step of screening potential tenants is to verify employment and income. This will help you to determine whether or not they can pay their rent on time.

While a tenant may disclose their income or say they’re employed in their rental application, it might not always be true.

Asking applicants for proof of their employment and income such as a company ID, certificate of employment, pay slips, or bank statements helps you verify the information they’ve disclosed, as well as the potential tenant’s ability to pay their rent.

#3: Run a credit report

Running a credit report is a good way to check for past financial problems, rental history, employment history and criminal history. You can also use this information to make sure that the tenant has no prior liabilities with another landlord before they move into your property.

There are two ways to check a tenant’s credit history:
A soft credit check is done as part of a background check. This is usually done to see if a person is eligible for certain types of loans, credit cards, or in this case, eligible to rent a property.
A hard credit check can affect a tenant’s credit score, it can stay on their record for 1-2 years but can only impact their credit score for a year. When someone goes through it several times, it can give the impression that they are a high-risk tenant.

Their main difference is that a soft check can be done without a tenant’s consent, while a hard check requires the permission of the tenant to see their credit report.

Some landlords would use tenant screening services to run a thorough background check. These screening services not only provide a credit report but also a tenant’s rental history as well as verify their employment and income.

However, such service comes with a cost, hence, should only be done with the rental application with the most potential.

#4: Ask for written references

Now that you’ve got a good handle on what to look for, it’s time to get some character references or talk to their previous landlord (if applicable). Here are some things you should do:

• Ask for references from past landlords or property managers who know them well. If they have been renting apartments in this area before, ask how they treated their previous tenants (they may have been great or not so great).
• Talk about whether or not they had problems with maintenance or other issues at the apartment complex during their last tenancy there — if so, ask for specific examples and details about those situations so that you can use them as reference points when interviewing potential new tenants!

In addition to asking for references in person, you can also ask your tenant to provide them via email or fax. This is a good opportunity for you to evaluate their professionalism as well as their communication skills.

Conclusion

The best way to protect yourself is by screening prospective tenants properly.

To be the best landlord in the world, you need to know what is happening around you. This means being aware of all the opportunities that could improve occupancy rates and keeping abreast of current trends.

In this case, we have outlined four steps that will help ensure that your property always has good tenants who pay rent on time and don’t cause any trouble for you. Keep these tips in mind when screening potential candidates and make sure they pass muster with all criteria before signing any agreements!