Are individual tenant screenings legit for commercial apps?

[Tamas Z.]

Hi,

General question about prospective tenant screening for commercial space: If a new applicant comes in, and their business doesn't really have enough history to have a good background picture (e.g. new biz), is using a tenant screening service you'd normally use for regular rental screening a legitimate way to go?

Would using something like MySmartMove with the individual business owner of an applicant be okay? I'm not sure if there are any standard laws preventing that from being a legit avenue.

Thanks again!

[Joel Owens]

You need to look at their financials for liquidity and net worth for the new venture. If it is 30k for them to start up and they have 60k then they might have to be profitable in 4 to 6 months or they go out of business.

If tenant is weak see if they have parents,friends,other business venture partners that would guarantee the lease that are a lot stronger. Also do not spend money on TI but give a few months free rent instead. This way if the tenant goes out you are not out of actual cash dollars.