Screening Workflow: when do I get the Background check?

[Thomas Fawcett]

Hey Guys, My wife and I recently bought our first brrrr duplex. We have completed the rehab and now we are in the process of tenant screening. We have been going through Brandon Turner’s book the Ultimate Guide to Managing Rental Properties and we love it! A few questions we have is when in the process do we run the background check and credit check? Do we accept applications choose the best one and then run the background check on just that person? Or do we run a background check on multiple people that have submitted applications? Or on every application? Same question for income verification and landlord references. We are planning on using cozy as a platform for the checks. When we accept an application what do we send to the other tenants? To whom do you have to send the adverse action letter to? Thanks in advanced for any help!!!

[Lee Ripma]

@Thomas Fawcett I use tenantcloud ($9/Mo). I post on Zillow and FB marketplace. Once folks have seen the place they do my online application through tenantcloud. This is free and screens them by having them answer my custom questions to see if they will qualify. These include income questions, credit score questions, smoking questions, etc. If they pass that I do the formal background check through tenantcloud which has an option for trans union Smartmove, they pay. If they come back ok then I have them submit deposit and first months rent online and sign lease online. I like tenantcloud over cozy. I collect all money online and it direct deposits into my bank account. Totally free for tenant.