Are Any Landlords Aware of A Better Way To ...

[Shawn Davis]

Hello All - I am wondering if any Landlords are aware of a more economical way for potential tenants to make application to several rental units, owned or managed by different entities, without having to pay multiple application fees?

I am an owner/landlord of several properties in a market which has been experiencing between 1-2% vacancies for a few years now.  My application fee ($40.00) is typical of the area, and in my case at least, is used entirely to cover the cost of running credit/criminal/eviction reports.  This amount is reasonable if a tenant only has to apply to one rental before being accepted, but it can become burdensome quickly to renters in our area who routinely apply to several units before being accepted.  As a landlord I simply want thorough and up to date screening information (credit/criminal/eviction).   I can envision a service which offers those screenings reports for a a one time fee and assigns the tenant an access code which can be used by several different landlords over a set period of time (say 90 days), or for a certain number of updated inquiries.  Of course, the tenant would still have to fill out the individual landlord's application and give written permission for access to the reports.

1.   Does this service, or something similar already exist?

2.   Would you, as a landlord, have any objections to using it if it did.

3.   Do others see this need in their markets?

4.   Do you "make" money from your application fee above and beyond the cost of your hard screening reports?  For example, is part of your fee used to cover administrative cost of checking references?

Thanks!