Part of every good tenant screening process is the tenant background check. You want to know as much as you can about your potential resident as possible. Before you hand over the keys to one of your most valuable assets, make sure you are renting your home to someone who is financially responsible, unlikely to cause damage, and willing to communicate.
RE/MAX Elite has been providing world-class property management service to Eastern Florida since 2006. We serve all of Brevard County, including Melbourne, SunTree, Viera, Palm Bay, Merritt Island, Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, Indialantic, Titusville and Mims.
Our leasing process includes a fair, consistent, and legally compliant tenant screening. There are a few things you want to spend some time checking, and we’re covering those areas in today’s blog.
Tenant Screening and Fair Housing
When you screen a tenant, you look at their backgrounds and you ensure that all of the information they provided on the application is true and accurate. This is how you decide whether you’ll approve them for tenancy or deny their application. You have to be consistent and treat every application the same, otherwise you can be accused of discrimination.
Good tenants can and must be found while following all fair housing laws. Put your screening process in writing and let your tenants know what you’ll be looking for before they submit an application. Then, you can trust your process.
Tenant Screening and Credit Reports
A good credit score doesn’t necessarily mean you have a good tenant. But, a credit history that shows a respect for financial responsibilities is a good way to start screening for an outstanding resident. Check for patterns of financial behavior. You don’t want to see any overdue debts to former landlords or apartment communities.
You definitely don’t want to see a history of past evictions. Good residents pay their utility bills on time. You can also use the credit report to verify addresses and residencies. If anything looks strange during the screening process, you can ask your applicant to explain.
Tenant Screening: Criminal Background Checks
A nationwide background check is also necessary. You want to make sure you’re not placing a tenant who has a history of violent behavior or drug charges. We recommend checking every national database that lists sexual offenders and sexual predators. Make sure your applicants provide permission for you to conduct this check; you’ll need a signature on the application.
Tenant Screening: Verify Employment and Income
Check employment and verify income. You can call the applicant’s employer and ask about the position that’s held, the length of employment, and salary. You can also ask for documentation from the applicant like pay stubs and tax returns. Our requirements for single-family homes and condos is that a renter earns at least three times the monthly rent. So, if the rental amount is $1,500 per month, the income has to meet or exceed $4,500 per month.
Tenant Screening Includes Rental History
Verify the applicant’s rental history, and talk to current and former landlords. We have a prior landlord questionnaire that we submit for completion. This allows us to find out if rent was paid on time, whether any property damage was left behind, and if the lease terms were followed. We also verify that the dates of residency match up to what’s on the application.
These are some of the screening tools we use to ensure we’re placing only the best residents in your property. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help with your leasing process, please
contact us
at RE/MAX Elite, and we’d be happy to tell you more.
