Screening Tenants who are not U.S. Citizens

[Chuck Greenfeld]

Hello, All!

We are fairly new landlords and also new members of BiggerPockets.  We own two rental properties in Baltimore, which is a very hot city for med students.  I met two potential tenants from Canada today, one pursuing a medical research position while his wife completes her rotations at area hospitals.  Since they don't have U.S. social security numbers, and since neither have lived in the U.S. before now, I am stumped as to how to complete the application process.  Any suggestions as to alternative documents or questions I can ask in lieu of the standard Cozy.co application?

Thanks!

Tanya (Chuck's wife)

[Nathan Gesner]

What is the purpose of a credit/criminal background check? To determine the level of risk.

If you can't run a credit/criminal background check, you have a higher-risk tenant.

What is the risk? You are unable to verify payment history or criminal background. 

Is there another way to verify this information?

One is pursuing medical research and the other is working at a hospital. It's probably safe to assume they are not criminals because the medical field will run a criminal check on them. It's probably also safe to assume they pay their bills because they managed to get an advanced educational degree and are working.

If I could verify their station in life, I would accept it in lieu of a credit/criminal background.