American Information Bureau

Screen That Tenant Before You Hand Them the Keys

Tenant Screening

Look before you lease. Employers, Landlords, Auto Dealerships, Mortgage Brokers, Real Estate Agents, Property Managers, Businesses, etc., you can reduce damage to your property, improve long-term occupancy, decrease late payments, and virtually eliminate criminal activity in your properties. Our tenant screening service can thoroughly check current public records, employment information, credit reports, as well as personally contacting the tenant’s current landlord and also the previous landlord. Avoid costly evictions and lost rental income. Before you hand them the keys, check them out!

Tenant Screening Guidelines

Review the application and Authorization to Release Information upon submission, make sure the information is complete and legible. It is mandatory to have the full name, social security number, date of birth and the complete current and previous addresses including the zip code of the prospective renter/employee/applicant in order to run a credit report. Additionally, a drivers license number and date of birth are needed for criminal record and DMV reports and previous addresses are beneficial for eviction reports.

Ask for a photo I.D., and compare it to the submitted application. Collect any documentation that supports additional income. Compare addresses and information on the credit report to those on the application.

Verify current employment information, and previous residence information. Ask for a bank statement. (There is no confidential information on a bank statement that doesn't already appear on a check besides the banking transactions.) Remember, references provided by the applicant should be friends and they will usually give glowing references. Comments by previous employers, neighbors and co-workers are usually more reliable.

Do not take a rental deposit from any applicant before checking out their references. It is not uncommon for the most likable and communicative applicant to have a terrible payment history and horrible credit habits. (They have learned and practice being slick) Use caution, especially from applicants who wish placement quickly without documentation, a verbal agreement, or want to give you a large amount of cash upfront before you have time to run a background check.

Landlords should ask to see the last 4- 6 months of rental receipts from the current address. They should be checks that are stamped on the back, on time and one lump sum. Any respectable tenant will be able to provide this documentation. If the credit or reference information does not meet your criteria, an eviction report or a criminal records report becomes even more important.

More landlords today are commonly ordering criminal record reports on their potential tenants, and results suggest that landlords will soon request criminal record reports as standard information when screening prospective rental applicants in the near future.

Remember, it is legal to charge each applicant a reasonable tenant screening fee so you may recuperate your expenses incurred in verifying their references when considering them. (Landlords for example, regularly charge $25.00 per applicant for credit reports alone.)

Don't feel pressured into making an instant decision no matter how good your applicants first impression has been. If needed AIB can rush your report and promptly check your prospective tenants references, do a credit report, an eviction report, a National, County and/or Federal criminal records report, check the sex offender registry, do a past employment history report, whatever critical documentation you need to make a definitive decision on your prospective tenant(s).

And finally, familiarize yourself with the requirements and laws to insure your compliance with The Fair Credit Reporting Act.

What Should I Check

Tenant Screening programs can help property owners and managers screen out high-risk applicants. Applicants posing risks might include those with certain criminal histories or whose credit reports reveal a spotty record of meeting financial commitments.

Most popular among tenant background screening services are Criminal Record Checks, Social Security Search, Tenant Credit Report, Verifications of Employment, Prior and Current Landlord Reference Checks and Searches of Eviction Records.