Tenant screening

[Wayne Smith]

Has anyone used Smartmove tenant screening?  If so what do you think?  Anyone use other methods?  I need to improve my selection process and need some advice/info.

[Ariel O.]

@Account Closed

When you're a small landlord it probably makes sense to screen civil, criminal yourself, if you can.  You're looking for civil records in Maryland, correct?  Guess what: Landlord/Tenant records aren't online! [http://www.courts.state.md.us/casesearch2/faq.html]

What records are not on Case Search?

Landlord tenant, marriage license records and all case types protected by the Maryland Rules on Access to Court Records.

What happens when you have an out of state tenant, then what do you do?

How do "make sure they are who they say they are?"

I 100% disagree on the credit report. I think the score can be confusing, but the actual report is a gold mine:

• Does the applicant pay his bills? How often does he miss payments?
• Is the applicant over leveraged?
• Has the applicant ever had serious collection issues? Why?
• Bankruptcies? 

These kind of things directly impact the ability of a tenant to pay your rent, which is your #1 concern. As a landlord you have EVERY Right to view this info. You're essentially giving someone complete access to a valuable asset on a monthly payment plan. Why wouldn't you want to know everything about them?

What I've discovered is that generally, the landlords who advocate omitting things from a screening haven't had to evict someone yet. Once that happens the tune changes.