Collecting tenant bank account information

[Heather DeGeorge]

We've moved back to advertising and screening our own tenants and we are trying to get smarter about it.  I KNOW I saw somewhere in these forums a good case for collecting tenant bank account numbers during the application process--but for my life I can't find the post/thread with all of that great info (and never marked "follow" on it or bookmarked it  :/ ) 

I have a few questions:

1)  Do you do this?  And if so, how long have you been a landlord and how has it been a very good thing?

2)  If you do this and a tenant has 4 bank accounts, do you get all 4 of the account numbers?  I recently received pushback on this from an applicant (they listed the four accounts and despite the field for "account number" being on the app--they didn't put a single number in and would only agree to give one of them)

3)  Do you use an online tenant screening system whose application collects these?  If not, how do you go around this?

The current property in question is in an A/B area.  We've been using an agent for the last 8 years and honestly, I haven't been thrilled with the stuff they give us.  Their apps ask WHERE the accounts are and the balance on hand but there were no numbers or verification.  We went mainly off of a credit and background check plus the application, and employment & landlord checks.

Having just gone through our first need to go after a tenant for damages that exceed their deposits (we've been landlords for 17 years, but overall over that time--not more than 10 units total), I'm trying to be sure we are well covered in the future.

TIA

[Joe Splitrock]

@Heather DeGeorge I ask for the last two months bank statements, which contains name of the bank and account number. Having the account number definitely helps speed collections on a judgement. I like the bank statements because it shows their cash balance over time, plus expenses like car payments. I just ask for their primary account rather than every account. I would say that using a credit report, rental references and job reference for screening are more important than bank account in most cases.

If someone is paranoid to give out their account number, you can remind them that every time they write a check they are giving out their bank and routing number. I could print checks from my home with any account number on them I wanted. Checking accounts are very unsecured. Any information I collect is locked in a secure location and only I have the key.

I use Cozy for online rent payment and I am happy.