It was 1988 and I had just bought my initial rental home. A great friend who was already in the business told me to make positive I do a background check on anyone who desires to rent from me. I was like each and every other new landlord, I thought I knew almost everything I needed to know. I told my friend that undertaking a background check on a potential tenant was just an additional expense and I didn’t want to invest the cash.
My first application was from a couple with 1 small kid. They seemed good adequate, so I rented to them. 4 months later they skipped out owing me $ 1,100.00 in past due rent and there was $ 1,400.00 damage to the home. The roaches had been so negative that I had to treat the house 4 times for bugs. They left behind eight truckloads of trash and belongings.
When the ordeal was more than, I spent the income to have a background check accomplished on them. Turned out that they had a extended history of landlord evictions and judgments for damage to rental property. That was my 1st encounter with what the market calls a “expert tenant”.
The term “specialist tenant”, has been utilised for years to describe a person who is in the enterprise of defrauding landlords. Usually they target the “small guy” with only a couple of properties. They tend to stay away from large companies who personal substantial apartment complexes and have a pool of lawyers.
When you have a person come to you about renting one particular of your properties, the initial thing you need to do is tell then there is a $ 20.00 application fee. Inform them it is for a credit check don’t use the term background check. Some will select proper then and there not to fill out an application, fearing that you will locate out about them.
BUT, you would be surprised by how many dirt bags will go ahead with the application and dare you to discover something. The reason they do that is that they are banking on the possibility that you will just pocket the application fee and not genuinely do the background check.
If you really feel negative about asking for the $ 20.00, just tell them that they will get the fee returned if you make a decision to rent to them. I do not refund the fee.
Now it is Time to Do Something Really Sensible.
Take the $ 20.00 and contact the fine folks at E-Renter or The Landlord Protection Agency and have them do a background check on your prospective new tenants. By undertaking this you will stay away from a achievable disaster. If you do not get a favorable background check, merely tell them that they had been not accepted.
Preserve in thoughts, if you do not rent to them, you have to inform them why. Just tell them you received an unfavorable background check from E-Renter or TLPA. It is up to them to make contact with the agency their argument is not with you. If you want, you can give them a copy of the report, after all, they paid for it. I usually give them a copy if they ask. Inform them you are sorry and send them on their way. Immediately after they are gone, count your blessings that you had been smart enough to check-up on them.
There you have it. Don’t be a tightwad! Commit the $ 20.00 and get the report. Heck, the tenant is paying for it anyway.
For more about tenant relations and evictions, pay a visit to us at www.evictabadtenant.com.
Bruce Kitts has been a landlord for more than 22 years. In that time he has handled all of his tenant evicitions himself and has in no way lost a case. He has also collected all monies owed to him by deadbeat tenants. Mr. Kitts is not an lawyer. Go to us at, Tenant-Background-Check
