How Can You Legally Screen a Tenant?
Property Management comes with many responsibilities, and one of the most crucial is prevention. Preventing tenant-damages property and the incurred costs. Preventing vacant property because the tenant left without notice – and without pay. Preventing damages caused by pets in a no-pet zone. The list continues. The most effective prevention tool is investing the time and finances to pre-screen clients. It will save you both time and money in the end. A key factor is prescreening within legal boundaries.
Here are 7 steps to handle keep tenant screening legal
- Have the prospective tenant complete a rental application. Your state may allow you to charge an application fee which may cover the background and credit check.
- Make sure the form clearly states you will be performing a background check and criminal history report as you must have the person’s written
- Check all financial information such as bank records, income, and credit cards. It’s good to go back about 7-10 years to get a full financial picture, such as a burden of debt, and learn how the prospective tenant will have the ability to pay rent each month.
- Verify the prospective tenant’s income. You may want to request a recent pay stub since some employers don’t give out private information or salary histories.
- Always ask how many people will be living at the address. Include questions and applicable information about pets.
- It is possible to ask about habits such as smoking and friends who smoke or if the person works the night shift or odd hours.
- Contact and validate personal references.
Better yet – contract with a professional screening company, such as Data Screening – they will ascertain all aspects of screening are complete and legal, ultimately saving you cost and frustration.
About DataScreeening.com
Data Screening is a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise that has offered business-to-business employment and tenant screenings to human resource professionals and business owners, including staffing companies, for two decades. Among other organizations, they are members of the ASA (American Staffing Association), SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) and the NAPBS (National Association of Professional Background Screeners).
New HUD Guidelines for 2018
If you rent properties, you need to know about laws and issues regarding legal aspects of leasing. For instance, new guidelines released by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development may affect the way you approach the tenant screening process.
The end of April, HUD released a bill aiming to raise rent for families who receive housing aid to reduce long wait times for federal assistance and to increase self-sufficiency. This rent reform bill will set new boundaries and limits on assistance.
The Making Affordable Housing Work Act (MAHWA) of 2018 intends to amend the Housing Act of 1937 to introduce rent reforms and standards. HUD Secretary Ben Carson said, “The current system isn’t working very well. Doing nothing is not an option.”
The MAHWA bill is similar to draft reforms first reported in February 2018. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April which mandates work requirements for benefits in preparation for welfare reforms affecting housing, food, and healthcare.
MAHWA establishes new formulas for calculating rent; that is, families must pay 35 percent of their gross monthly income or 35 percent of the total an individual would earn working 15 hours minimum per week for four weeks—whichever amount is higher. The bill also creates a new minimum rent for those presently exempt from paying the 30 percent, which includes the elderly and disabled.
In summary, the new legislation enables public housing authorities and landlords who accept vouchers to put in place work requirements for people who receive aid. While the bill does not indicate minimum or maximum hours of work to be set, or the nature of the work involved, it does give Carson the power to set those terms. And Carson’s theme is to promote self-sufficiency and better financial stability.
About DataScreeening.com
Data Screening is a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise that has offered business-to-business employment and tenant screenings to human resource professionals and business owners, including staffing companies, for two decades. Among other organizations, they are members of the ASA (American Staffing Association), SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) and the NAPBS (National Association of Professional Background Screeners).
First-Time Landlord? 5 Things You Must Know
Interested in being a landlord? Everyone starts in the same place, wanting to learn how to manage a property. With this in mind, it is smart to learn from experienced professionals who can teach you to avoid mistakes they have made, and fortunately for you, a lot of tenant property owners are willing to share where they went wrong.
- Your rental property is a business. Conducting good business means complying with all relevant laws to keep you and your tenants’ safe and secure. It also means keeping your investment in top shape to prevent problems before they occur. In fact, experts recommend setting up the property as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) to shield your personal assets and gain tax advantages.
- Document everything about your property. Whatever your property’s condition, take pictures and videos before renters move in, or tenants move out. Keep all receipts of repairs done because of tenant issues. Compare the information to assess for damages. A documented record also protects if you need to defend against a claim filed by a tenant.
- Set the right rental price. Research your locale to determine competitive rates for similar properties. Then compare those rental amounts to your fixed and variable expenses. You should know how monthly rental expenses will affect your monthly revenue.
- Have a network of reliable contractors who can complete repairs correctly and promptly. Having contractors that are both trustworthy and skilled to do the work you need is like having a treasure chest of gold. It gives you peace of mind that the property and tenants are in good hands.
- Implement a tenant screening process. It won’t matter what you do if your tenants don’t pay on time. Require a rental application that provides all pertinent information including details on previous rentals and references. Be specific about how many people will live in the rental and whether there are any pets (if you allow them). Include a credit check and background screening, too.
These are merely a few of the recommended steps to take when becoming a landlord. For accurate and effective screening, why not contact Data Screening. The firm has knowledgeable staff to help with legal aspects of tenant screening and questions.
About DataScreeening.com
Data Screening is a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise that has offered business-to-business employment and tenant screenings to human resource professionals and business owners, including staffing companies, for two decades. Among other organizations, they are members of the ASA (American Staffing Association), SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) and the NAPBS (National Association of Professional Background Screeners).
Employers Should Know: Employment Screening for 2018
Keeping up with state regulations and background screening industry trends can be a daunting process for employers and HR professionals. While changes in laws may implement protections for those who are seeking work, employers must also be mindful of how they conduct hiring and screening processes to prevent discrimination and negligent hiring.
Here are some hiring trends and background check information employers need to know for this year.
Ban the Box
The Ban the Box policy was instituted to encourage employers to consider an applicant’s qualifications rather than take the chance of being prejudiced by his or her criminal history. The Ban the Box policy removes the question of criminal history from the employment applications, so all candidates have a fair chance at employment. To date, more than half the states in the U.S. have adopted the new law. California has put it into practice as of the first of this year, and other states are likely to follow this progress toward adoption nationwide.
Limited use of Credit Reports
Cities and states are battling laws to limit credit reports as consideration for employment arguing these prejudice the employer and are thus discriminatory. The caveat exists for applicants who will be making financial decisions, accessing financial records or handling money as the screening is directly applicable to their job. While only a handful of states have thus passed a law about credit reporting, projections say other states will follow suit.
Inquiries about Salary History
Several states have restricted employers from inquiring about previous salaries. The impetus behind this requirement is an effort to end the wage gap or gender discrimination. This law is also likely to continue a pattern of adoption across the nation.
Engaging the services of a reputable professional agency, such as Data Screening, ensures you as an employer will meet all federal, state and local laws as you determine the best candidates for your positions.
About DataScreeening.com
Data Screening is a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise that has offered business-to-business employment and tenant screenings to human resource professionals and business owners, including staffing companies, for two decades. Among other organizations, they are members of the ASA (American Staffing Association), SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) and the NAPBS (National Association of Professional Background Screeners).
What Is Tenant Screening – Why Is It Necessary?
If you are in the business of real estate, such as a property management company, real estate office or apartment building owners, you need specific and accurate information to evaluate and choose reliable, qualified tenants for rental properties.
The Process
- Tenant Pre-Screening
From the potential tenant’s initial contact about renting your property, you begin to form impressions as to whether that individual will be someone who can fulfill the lease agreement. While rental price vs. income is an obvious qualifier, pre-screening goes beneath the surface.
You can often discover a lot by allowing the prospect to lead with questions so you may learn what is important to them. For example,
- Questions about a pool or exercise area might indicate that the potential tenant values personal care – and people who value personal care, often value property care.
- Questions about average utilities or washer/dryer hook-ups may indicate a person who is careful with finances.
- Questions about social outlets in the area from daytime activities to bars and nightlife reveal their interests.
Presenting your questions is also a critical part of prescreening. Be sure to include questions such as,
- Do they currently rent, how long have they rented, and how long will they expect to live in the rental?
- Why are they moving to a new rental and how soon do they want to move into the apartment? (If moving was a sudden decision and they need to vacate their current location, it may indicate some negative issues.)
- What do they do for a living and what is a rough estimate of their annual income?
- Rental application and credit screening.
If a prospective tenant is still interested, set up a time for completing a lease application and securing a deposit. Keep an eye out for red flags as you meet the applicant. First impressions do tell you a lot – like a sloppy appearance may indicate what you can expect regarding upkeep of the apartment.
- Background Checks
When the rental application is complete, review the lease agreement, collect a deposit, and inform the potential renter you will need to run a credit report and criminal history check. Remember, it is a legal requirement to inform the prospective tenant you will be checking their credit report and for them to authorize the screening. Consider charging a nominal fee for this service, which will apply to the first rental period if the background check is clean
Rather than do all the screening and checking yourself, particularly if you have limited staff, it would be beneficial and efficient to hire a qualified, reliable agency such as Data Screening, to administer the process on your behalf.
About DataScreeening.com
Data Screening is a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise that has offered business-to-business employment and tenant screenings to human resource professionals and business owners, including staffing companies, for two decades. Among other organizations, they are members of the ASA (American Staffing Association), SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) and the NAPBS (National Association of Professional Background Screeners).
Protect Your Property while Subletting
As a landlord, your priority is protecting your rental property. It is the reason you have leasing agreements and tenant screenings. But what do you do when a tenant who has always paid rent on time and kept his apartment in pristine condition wants to sublet?
Subletting is not a risk-free concept – nor is it easy, but sometimes it’s the best choice. For example, if that premier tenant is leaving for an extended work assignment, but neither wants to put his/her furnishings in storage or have to find another apartment when returning. (Subletting differs from assigning, in which the tenant permanently leaves the apartment and assigns the lease responsibility to another individual.)
Protection Comes in Writing
If you agree to sublet, clarify terms and document everything.
- Ask your current tenant to share, in writing, their reasons and documentation for approving the potential sublessee.
- Even though the sublessee has earned the tenant’s approval, have them fill out your standard application and conduct your usual procedure – including credit and criminal background checks.
- Create a sublease agreement, which establishes who pays the rent and, if not included in the rent, the utilities.
- Establish who is responsible for late fees, damages, etc. In most cases, the buck should stop with the original tenant.
- Get the current tenant’s contact information and establish in writing, that you will be notified of any changes that occur while they are gone.
- Ensure that both you and the current tenant are in compliance with your local and state laws.
- Take photos of the apartment on the day the current tenant is leaving – this will establish proof of the condition of the property, as well as the furnishings, should a question arise.
Whether or not you choose to sublet, managing property includes background checks. Let Data Screening make your job easier. We have been serving businesses since 1996.
About DataScreeening.com
Data Screening is a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise that has offered business-to-business employment and tenant screenings to human resource professionals and business owners, including staffing companies, for two decades. Among other organizations, they are members of the ASA (American Staffing Association), SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) and the NAPBS (National Association of Professional Background Screeners).
What Can Giving Gifts to Clients Do for Your Business?
Without clients, your business would not exist. Showing your appreciation especially during the season of gift-giving is more than just participating in a ritual. It is leverage for your business.
- Offering a gift shows your service providers you are thankful for the services they performed for you and your business during the year.
- It keeps you top of mind (though this should not be the purpose for sending a gift).
- More subtly, it shows you are invested in their success, and you were grateful for the opportunity to move them toward that end.
- It gives you a reason to connect. Any conversation may elicit more ways in which you can serve them.
8 Tips to choose the right gifts:
- Set a spending limit
- It’s okay to be personal but not intimate
- It’s best to offer shareable gifts
- Keep in mind the company culture and diversity
- Be mindful of beliefs and faiths
- Consider posting information with food items (such as gluten, nut-free, dairy-free, etc.)
- If the number of employees is small, consider a gift card that can be used anywhere
- Always include a personally written thank-you for your business card with each gift.
Before you do anything, verify a company’s policy on gift-giving. Most military, government or unionized organizations may frown up the practice. In any instance, you want to show goodwill and not make anyone uncomfortable.
About DataScreeening.com
Data Screening is a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise that has offered business-to-business employment and tenant screenings to human resource professionals and business owners, including staffing companies, for two decades. Among other organizations, they are members of the ASA (American Staffing Association), SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) and the NAPBS (National Association of Professional Background Screeners).
6 Solutions for Great Property Management.
As a property management company, your focus is not just on providing what tenants will sign leases for, but also for doing so in a way that continues the best profitability because of best management practices. These 6 items will help you keep an eye toward this goal.
- Draft and execute accurate property management agreements at the inception of the relationship with the lessee. Set expectations and boundaries up front to make sure clarity of terms is established.
- Use clearcut language on a hold harmless provision. Include a broad indemnity provision that provides a clear means for termination upon noncompliance.
- Take time to visit and inspect the property before accepting responsibility for it. Moreover, ascertain the property manager is a named beneficiary on the property owner’s insurance policy. Use a respected data screening service for information and background checks, such as http://Data Screening.com
- Hire experienced people. Make sure the property management team has formal training and knowledge of property management laws such as fair housing regulations, the ADA, and security deposit accounting rules.
- Have a program in place for continuing education which includes participation in trade groups, seminar attendance, maintaining a close relationship with a law firm and continuing online education at sources like propertymanager.com
- Prevent losing good employees due to dissatisfaction with compensation. Attrition is costly. Well-trained people are worth paying for as they will save the firm money over time. Pay them competitively, especially when they are motivated to learn more to improve their performance.
About DataScreeening.com
Data Screening is a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise that has offered business-to-business employment and tenant screenings to human resource professionals and business owners, including staffing companies, for two decades. Among other organizations, they are members of the ASA (American Staffing Association), SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) and the NAPBS (National Association of Professional Background Screeners).
12 Tips for Landlords – Avoid Rental Application Cons
As a landlord, you may think you’ve seen more tricks than at a dog and pony show. Forgery and fraud in rental applications may not be publicized, but it frequently happens, particularly with “mom and pop” landlords as scammers think they are the easiest to manipulate.
Those applicants who perpetrate fraud will often seek multi-family housing and typically have a bad credit score. Sometimes they have a pet or two and “forget” to inform the landlord. When people need a home, they’re almost in survival instinct mode. They may try anything to get that need met. So stay ahead of the game by following these tips.
- Ask for a photo ID and never accept a photocopy or fax of one as these can be easily faked. Ascertain the applicant is the person on the ID and not just someone with similar characteristics. Ask if the address on the ID is where they currently live, and if not, why?
- Make certain to invest in a tenant background check, specifically one that searches for criminal records. This screening reveals past problems and hints of potential future ones, such as previous fake addresses or offenses which may violate safety. A decision not to get a background check could be much costlier in the long run as it is more difficult to evict a tenant once they are in residence.
- Secure a tenant credit check. A low credit score could indicate the potential of bad pay or no pay. Worse, the tenant could skip out after leaving damages or absconding with appliances and light fixtures.
- Beware of tenants who respond to rental advertising on free sites or bulletin boards. Sure, many people respond legitimately to these ads, but it benefits you to be cautious.
- Know your rights as a landlord and the rights of potential tenants. Having this information at hand helps to verify you are within the law to refuse a tenant’s application without discrimination.
- Ask about pets. Clarify that your policy covers the inclusion of a pet from the time of move-in to vacating the lease.
- Observe the person completing the application. Do they use a “cheat sheet” or phone someone to ask for help? When finished, look over the application and ask questions to confirm the data.
- Verify past personal references. Sometimes renters use two separate phones in an attempt to respond as their own “reference,” or ask a friend to vouch for them. Landlords can place an unexpected call to the numbers to catch the fraudulent renter off-guard.
- Do a computer search of the potential renter’s name and see what comes up.
- Request pay stubs to verify income. Most companies, even the government, use electronic records. Be wary of anything that looks like a fake template. Look for typos, font changes, misaligned information, mistakes in the math, or unlikely sequencing of check numbers.
- Charge an application fee or require a deposit that can be applied to the rent. This discourages those who forge or proffer fraudulent documents.
- Check with your local police frauds department to see if they have a list of tips to share with landlords.
Perhaps the best way of all to determine a legitimate renter is to outsource your potential tenant’s background screening to Data Screening.com. Besides in-depth information that is legal and above board, you save hours of time by obtaining the credit and background checks in a single-sourced, convenient report.
About DataScreeening.com
Data Screening is a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise that has offered business-to-business employment and tenant screenings to human resource professionals and business owners, including staffing companies, for two decades. Among other organizations, they are members of the New Jersey Staffing Alliance, the Society for Human Resource Management and the National Association of Professional Background Screeners. How may we help you today?
Keeping Up with New Labor and Employment Laws
Federal, state and municipal labor and employment laws changed as of late 2016 and 2017.
- Many states approved minimum wage increases with adjustments for consequent years.
- Laws concerning the medical and recreational use of marijuana were liberalized.
- Some states limited inquiries about applicants’ prior salaries to encourage pay equity.
- Some states enacted new paid sick leave measures.
Employers may be hard-pressed to keep up with what went into effect in 2016 and what is still scheduled to take effect this year.
Do these changes affect conducting pre-employment background checks?
Yes, they do! For example, the liberalization of marijuana necessitates adjustments in drug screening laws, especially those requiring periodic testing in the workplace.
These changes are not the only strong impacts. Ban the box, and the gig economy are two more trends shaping employment practices.
Wikipedia explains “Ban the Box” as:
“The name of an international campaign by civil rights groups and advocates for ex-offenders, aimed at persuading employers to remove from their hiring applications the check box that asks if applicants have a criminal record.”
This movement aligns with the Fair Chance Act which went into effect late in 2015.
WhatIs.com says “a Gig Economy” as:
“An environment in which temporary positions are common and organizations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements.”
If you are a small business, it may be time to refresh your knowledge of state and municipal laws that legally affect you. Moreover, it would be advantageous to use a reputable agency in your hiring practices. An agency such as datascreening.com keeps up with current laws and trends so that you receive the most complete, accurate and trustworthy information.
About DataScreeening.com
Data Screening is a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise that has offered business-to-business employment and tenant screenings to human resource professionals and business owners, including staffing companies, for two decades. Among other organizations, they are members of the New Jersey Staffing Alliance, the Society for Human Resource Management and the National Association of Professional SBackground Screeners. How may we help you today?