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This post is provided by TransUnion SmartMove®, a leader in tenant screening technology. I do not promote many products on this site, unless I personally use them and think they are a good value. SmartMove tenant screening, is how we complete background checks, credit checks and learn the history on all applicants for my rental properties. It has made a world of difference in the quality of our tenants and is extremely easy to use. You can learn more about the tenant screening services they offer here.
Of all the uncertainties involved in renting properties to tenants, the most basic question is: Can I trust this individual to pay rent on time? Besides the tenant paying rent on time, landlords are also concerned about tenants trashing their rental property. One of the biggest fears of a new landlord is picking the wrong tenant, who costs them thousands and thousands of dollars.
Actually, many questions arise when one of your rental properties opens up and a prospective tenant appears promising.
- Have they paid rent on time in the past or skipped out on payments?
- Do they have a relevant criminal record or a history of prior evictions?
- Is this tenant the right fit for my property?
These are the types of questions that are sometimes difficult to answer on your own. Many landlords try to save a few bucks, by not running credit or background checks, but this can come back to bite them. Mark can attest he had some issues with landlords before he and his team started doing a more thorough job of screening their tenants.
Fortunately, there’s a better way: online tenant screening can help answer these questions.
Why tenant screening allows greater control over your leasing decisions
It used to be that independent landlords and property owners had to rely on a “gut instinct” regarding tenant applications. But for every time that gut instinct proved right, there were many occasions when they turned out to be wrong—sometimes disastrously so, resulting in costly, drawn-out evictions. If a landlord did want to run a background check or credit check, they would have to collect social security numbers and other personal information many people would rather not handle.
Fortunately, today’s landlords have far greater control over their leasing decisions. Online tenant screening enables them to review a tenant’s credit, criminal and eviction history before making any type of commitment to rent to them. With the right tenant screening package, they can pinpoint warning signs and lower their risk of missed payment and eviction notices—well ahead of the fact.
And since total expenses for a typical eviction notice average $3,500 (as of 2014, according to TransUnion data), it makes good business sense to take advantage of this online technology now.
Gaining access to the same data as big property management companies
TransUnion SmartMove® provides the same in-depth information on credit, criminal, and eviction FCRA-regulated data as that employed by large property management companies. There’s really no better way to get a complete picture of your potential renters in a comprehensive, easy-to-digest format. The large property management firms have spend millions of dollars to figure out the best data to use when picking tenants. With SmartMove you have access to that same information.
Here’s what you get with SmartMove tenant screening services:
- A TransUnion credit report formatted exclusively for rental screening purposes
- A criminal report draw from over 200 million nationwide criminal reports
- A national evictions report based on information from a database of more than 24 million eviction records
- A clear, dependable, credit-based leasing recommendation of whether to accept or decline the applicant
The more you know about a potential tenant, the better decision you can make based on his or her credit, criminal and eviction history. This type of information is probably your biggest asset in making this key decision. With comprehensive tenant screening, you can find great tenants and better protect your rental income.
A note from Mark on tenant screening
We just rented rental property number one again. The previous tenants were in the oil industry and were transferred out of state. Whenever we look at applicants, we always get a SmartMove report. It does not cost us anything, since we charge an application fee to prospective tenants. Charging that application fee also ensures the tenants are serious and we are not wasting our time, checking references and running reports.
One of the tenants we were considering for this property was very honest and said he had no credit. He was very worried about being considered and was even willing to pay a few months rent upfront. We ran a credit check, which showed he actually had great credit, and everything else checked out great as well. We might not have considered this tenant without that report. Likewise some tenants will try to hide their past, or credit problems, but the SmartMove report will find those problems helping you choose better tenants.
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Thanks for shedding light on the importance of tenant screening. It’s so important to make sure you place the best possible tenants in your rental property to avoid problems such as non-payment of rent and damage to your investment property. I would love to add that proper tenant screening can also help reduce tenant turnover rates. This is because high quality tenants, especially those you take care of during lease terms, are more likely to renew their leases at the end of their term. Thanks again for sharing!
Great Post and Nice Article.Its Very Informative Post.I had never know this Idea before.I like it.Thanks for Sharing.
Thank you
Hi Mark,
I like your article and the article was informative.
But Credit screening is useless for Tenants in Pennsylvania.
The PA Tenant Landlord Act is all in favor of Tenants. Tenants can have great or average credit.
Tenants can live/hoard in a property and not pay a penny, even if you give them a lock box code.
They don’t even have to pay a Security Deposit.
Once you evict a bad tenant, you are already out 2 months rent, and whatever else damages occur (Utility bills, trash, garbage, Damaged walls, doors, appliances, cat urine in floors/carpets, frozen pipes), the list goes on. Good luck trying to find every item which was damaged. Also, Good luck trying to file an insurance claim as well. Insurance company will say the loss wasn’t “immediate or sudden damages”
Then once you get the bad tenants out of your property and try to sue for your losses, all the tenants have to do, is either quit their jobs, or change jobs. The process and the PA laws are not benefiting Landlords at all.
Heck, you cant even garnish wages from SSI or SSD tenants, because that money is Federally protected money. Yet the Landlords are screwed twice, because the Landlords Pay the property and school taxes, so the tenants can live there for free.
Landlords try to provide a safe, reasonable property for someone to live in, and then bad tenants take advantage of every law there is.
As you can see, its not all a piece of cake here in PA
I ask for verified income/paystubs for my tenants, prior to renting, and thats the best you can do.
It really sounds like you have much more of a reason to screen than most other people. I own property in Massachusetts, a VERY tenant friendly state.
Yes, evictions are difficult and take a minimum of 2 months. A perfect tenant agreement ensures eviction every time.
Yes, you are out a little bit of rent, but you can get an ‘execution’ on your judgement against them which entitles you to take property. Most people own a car, tools, TV’s or anything else that you can get an execution against.
But really, who wants to chase down people over a few dollars? I’m so focused on making money, I just want them out.
With an excellent tenant screening process, my evictions are virtually non-existent. All my evictions come from tenants that came with the property I bought. 1 extra month of vacancy is worth more to me than a bad tenant. Screen and verify EVERYTHING.
Then be a great landlord to them. Don’t be a jerk, always maintain the property and always fix everything you can.
I agree, proper screening is a must if you are in a tenant friendly state. I also agree about being a good landlord and avoiding evictions if at all possible. Great comment.
I think what you just described is exactly why you should be screening tenants very carefully. The better you screen, the better tenants you will have and the less headaches.