Best way to screen tenants?

Question

Hello BP- i am closing on my first two family in Monmouth County,NJ tomorrow. What is the best way to screen tenants for credit, income verification, etc..? Is there a website that you recommend or another way? Thanks in advance!!

Linda S. · Answer

We use Cozy.co, and require the tenants to pay the $25 application fee and get a background check, they also have a credit report for $39.    Once they apply, we get a PDF and get all our answers.. having someone pay to apply weeds out any non-serious applicants.      As far as verifying income, you just need to call their employment (don't use the number given by applicant-- use official business line)  and verify they work there, and how long, and ask if the quoted amount sounds right for their income.   Good luck!

Stephen McClanahan · Answer

Account Closed Thanks John.  So is SmartMove (TransUnion) not as current as Experian?

Frank Chin · Answer

I use "American Tenant Screen" since 1990 to do credit checks, evictions and criminal background checks. I do my own employment checks, and occasionally call the prior landlord.

The most important thing is I tell prospects before I give the final approval after processing the application is I want to personally meet every additional tenant who may be living there, and have them complete an application if they're working.

After all of that, I ask them to provide photo ID's at the very end which many people don't expect. You'll be surprised I caught a few imposters at this point, including one guy who gave me an application with one name on it, and brazenly gave me his drivers license with another name. Explained he used a different name at work.This is on top of his roommate, who came twice, when asked for an ID, said he left his wallet at home both times. Asked to see his wife, says she's still in Nigeria.

I don't go strictly on credit score or salary. A former boss of mine taught me how to say something "off the wall" and see how people react. Once my wife was processing applications, said one guy looks good, and wanted to pay us part of the deposit to hold the rental until all the verifications are completed. I met the guy, a young fella to take his check, and noticed he had a fake funny smile on his face, so I said to him "you look like a nice fella. but I don't want any loud wild parties here". His face turned beet red and angry immediately, shouted "who are you to accuse me of holding wild parties". Then, just as suddenly, his fake smile returned.

Well, we decided not to rent to him, gave him an excuse and returned his check. He proceeded to make a number of threatening calls the following month, promising he'll come to our home, and take care of us. That was a close one.

Andrea Collatz · Answer

Hi Account Closed

I’m a representative with TransUnion SmartMove. SmartMove’s consumer reports contain credit and public record information on consumers that is updated regularly from thousands of sources of data. Although update frequencies vary, many sources update on a daily or weekly basis and we update our information as soon as we are provided with new data. Our goal is to provide our customers with accurate reports based on the highest quality of data sources available to us.

Additionally, SmartMove masks the applicant's social security number for their privacy and to relieve the landlord of the responsibility of securely storing this sentitive information. If you have any questions about SmartMove feel free to send me a note. Thanks!

Thomas S. · Answer

Follow all the previous advice, never rely on gut feelings. Applicants are not people only a collection of facts used eliminate the unqualified. Never ever compromise on your screening standards to make a seemingly good applicant fit your requirements.

Many applicants will give you a sob story, they all lie on their applications it is your responsibility to ferret out the lies. The purpose of screening is to find reasons to not rent to someone.

When a applicant starts giving a sob story, if you find a lie on a application or a application is incomplete in any way simply throw it away . There is no point in screening those applicants.

You must learn what are high risk individuals based on their personal life situation and reject them even if all other facts may point to a qualified applicant.

Vincent P. · Answer

Thanks Stephen!

Stephen McClanahan · Answer

There's a very detailed tenant screening guide here:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/01/2...

We use the SmartMove service in the link above and liked it.  Once a tenant passes the online background and credit check, we also call their employer and prior landlord to confirm the information on their application.

Vincent P. · Answer

Thanks Eric & Wade!

Wade Sikkink · Answer

I don't think credit reports are super useful in tenant screening.  Many have credit that's not stellar.

We ask for the names of previous landlords as a reference.  That is by far the best screening if you can get it.  We had a applicant one time that gave us the info on his current landlord.  I called the guy and he told me the tenant was habitually late and was currently a month and a half behind on rent.  Pretty easy decision on that one.  We've also had tenants that looked marginal on their application but the previous landlord said they were solid and always paid on time.

If we get a good previous landlord reference and can verify their employment, that's all we need.  Oh, that and a clean report on criminal check.

Best way to screen tenants?

Most Popular Reply