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).
What Is Negligent Hiring?
When a company brings a new staff member on board, that employee becomes an “agent” of the firm. However, should that new worker subsequently cause harm to a co-worker, client, or third party, the employer may be liable for a claim of negligent hiring.
Negligent hiring says the employer should have performed more due diligence when screening that worker before hiring. If properly done, the due diligence may have revealed that the worker just brought on board should, instead, have been disqualified from consideration.
It is valuable to note that companies can be caught in a difficult position.
While organizations wish to use background checks and criminal checks as part of their due diligence processes, there are two issues that can arise during the screening process.
First, screenings are not foolproof. Occasionally, some mistakes in databases are made, and lawsuits prevail on the web describing some of these cases. One particular case occurred a decade ago when a school bus driver was drinking and driving while on the job. He crashed the bus which led to the loss of lives.
Second, while companies do not wish to hire dishonest or dangerous people, they also must be careful in their due diligence screenings not to discriminate, as racial minorities have disproportionate conviction rates. Complying with the EEOC is also required.
Though no one can prevent an unhappy litigant from filing a lawsuit, every organization can record its efforts of how the due diligence process occurred. Screening policies should be in place that provides a thorough investigation into the details pertinent to employment. Those policies prove best when reviewed by a legal professional, or when a firm such as Data Screening is used.
Data Screening can provide due diligence screenings via a variety of criteria. Their services cover legal aspects as well as customized information to preclude negligent hiring claims.
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?
A Clean Slate in 2017
You have made the decision this is the year to change your life, to wipe the slate clean. But can you?
Your history has been anything but stellar. A string of bad relationships has cost your heart and your finances. A bevy of poor decisions has cost your credit and credibility. How do you eliminate the bad and build the good?
And if you can manage to put a new face on your data screening, how long will it take?
The answer is . . . It depends. But the sooner you begin, the better.
Here are steps you can take to get the process moving (and continuing) forward.
Make sure to get copies of the records pulled against you. If you cannot obtain those, then get copies of your records and FICO score directly from the credit bureaus Transunion, Equifax, and Experian. You can request one copy for free annually from these agencies, and you should scour it carefully to understand where to start making changes.
There are various services and strategies for addressing changes in your credit profile, and only you can determine what works best for your situation; however, study resources carefully, as some are more helpful than others. Credit repair agencies can operate differently than debt consolidation agencies. You may find it helpful to seek counsel from someone wiser whom you trust as to the best way to proceed.
If you have been involved in a criminal complaint, gather records from your local courthouse.
Once you have these records, you can check for any misinformation or errors. You may need to write letters and provide proof of payments to settle any disputes. You can also call collection agencies and discuss terms with them.
This information introduces how to begin improving your profile. Truthfully, it may take a year or three until you have purged the lackluster data. Moreover, while a clean slate might be the ultimate goal, don’t neglect each step along the way. Sometimes our mistakes are opportunities in disguise to teach us life lessons. Chances are, you’ll connect with someone with whom you can share your experience.
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?
Choosing Your Tenants Wisely
Have you ever had to deflect complaints about tenants? Have you ever had to evict a tenant for nonpayment, or worse, had a tenant skip out on you?
While it is true that there are no guarantees in how people might behave, nor how they might maintain solvent financial status, choosing whom to rent is an important decision. Filling a vacancy should, like any sound business decision, require more information than a surface meeting with the potential tenant.
Once you have the tenant’s permission and s/he has filled out an application, use an agency like Data Screening to receive accurate information and scoring on which to base your rental decision. Whether you are a landlord, property manager or real estate professional, you can receive various screening information about tenant applicants, including:
Tenant background checks with the current and previous landlords. This criterion reveals tenants who pay rent on time, as well as high-risk tenants who don’t. Validate these factors before further consideration.
Applicant credit checks reveal credit scores and bankruptcies, collections, and judgments, which help identify the applicant’s risk for paying late. They may also indicate whether a cosigner might be required.
Criminal searches show if an applicant has a criminal record. This information can prevent a perception of discrimination and minimize rental income loss.
Eviction searches show evidence of tenant evictions as well as reports of income loss.
Screening and background checks provide useful information to aid decision making and ensure your return on investment. Using a professional screening agency like Data Screening will produce fast, accurate information that meets legalities and confirms you can make a wise decision.
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?