Interviewing potential tenants

[Marlene Michael]

I have a rental property that has been occupied by two tenants thus far. The first tenant was awful and the second was a friend. So, this is my first time going through the tenant choosing process with a little knowledge and experience. I have about 8 appointments lined up tomorrow, a few on Friday, and one on Sunday.  This is my plan to get someone in by Monday. Please give your honest feedback.

1) At the conclusion of each walk through, if they are still interested, I will have them complete a paper application with job and rental history.

2) Within a few hours of each walk through, I will attempt to contact previous landlords and verify employment.

3)If all is well, they will move on to the next step, which is to complete an online app through the BP smartmove site which will check credit, background and eviction history (applicant will pay).

4) Based on the results I will narrow down the applicants and then choose a tenant somehow (???)

Am I on the right track?

[Marcia Maynard]

Originally posted by @Marlene Michael:

@Steve Babiak

 You've given me quite a lot to think about... I will definitely need to get a game plan together for verifying income.

Ask for recent paycheck stubs, employment letters, and benefit award letters. Check on line for the employer contact information instead of relying on the phone number the tenant gave you. Be aware the larger companies will require you to talk to HR. The smaller companies will let you talk to the supervisor. Very few questions will be answered by either. Have your questions for employers in writing so you can fax them along with the authorization form that the tenant signed. 

We only ask a few questions of the employer... the ones they will answer...

1. Does this person currently work for you or your company? If no, did they work for you in the past?

2. Dates of employment?  Start _________  End _________

3. Job Title? 

4. Employee or Independent Contractor?  (Circle)

5. Full-time, Part-time, Occasional or Seasonal?  (Circle)

6. What is their gross monthly income from this source of employment?

7. Is their position stable and likely to continue uninterrupted into the foreseeable future?  If not, what is the situation?