Screen tenants website?

Question

What’s the best site/app/service to use for your rental applicants to submit to when applying for your rental?

Looking for something the prospective tenant can use easily to log in, pay the fee, and the report gets sent back to me.

Maya Roberts · Answer

@Vincent Plant, I recently started to use Burbz. I actually met their founder here on BiggerPockets @Kenny Dahill. Super nice guy! I had a few questions getting started and he graciously took time out of his day to help me!

Rick Gallahue · Answer

There are many websites out there that can give you a report.  The biggest problem I've found is that in my area, they do not report either evictions or criminal activity to the big companies.  I can however, pull up information from the Sheriff's office to see how many times they have been served Forcible Warrants.  While these don't mean that these people have been evicted, it does mean that other PMs have had issues with rent payment and in my area rent has been at least 5 days late.  We are required to give 7 days notice via Certified Mail which adds another 2 days (technically a 9 day notice) which expired, hence the Sheriff's log.  I have used TransUnion's SmartMove in the past and it was decent but it didn't replace going through the manual check of social media or the Sheriff's log.

Samantha Decker · Answer

@Vincent Plant Hey, Vincent!

There are many quick and easy online tenant screening services you can look into. I would recommend finding a full service, which would include background and criminal, eviction and credit reports. I'd also suggest gaining insight into your prospective tenant's income -- are they able to the pay the rent? According to surveys that we've conducted, 80% of independent landlords say that nonpayment of rent is their top concern.

Feel free to connect with me if you have any questions about tenant screening. I am pretty knowledgeable in the space.

Best of luck!

Samantha

Evan Brookman · Answer

It seems Tellus App partners with Naborly about the tenant screening service and it's totally free. The reports I have received are thorough and include all the information I needed.

Joseph Copella · Answer

@Vincent Plant I would recommend checking out the landlord resources tab on BP.  You will be able to familiarize yourself with some options that are available to you for screening your applicants.  I would recommend making strict screening criteria as well for what you are looking for in a potential tenant.

Kenny Dahill · Answer

Thanks Maya!  I always appreciate the kind words.

Vincent, you definitely have several available options.  I'll try to add some additional information for you.

There are only 3 primary 'screening companies' that actually generate the reports.  All the landlord software companies utilize these reports and add their logos.  Nobody actually creates the reports themselves.  This is important to know because really we're all the same reports (1 of the 3).  We chose an affiliate that provides additional handchecking because we wanted that extreme quality for our users; 23% of reports have an error on them.

Even with the screening reports, you should always do additional due diligence.  Call their references, ask for proof of income and funds, etc.  Screening reports are definitely a great tool in the tenant screening process, but it's not 'everything'.

I would advise you consider other features that you might want.  This combined with the screening reports should help you increase your managing efficiency.

Rob B. · Answer

Hi Vincent, there are lot of great resources out there. I might note that some software options do offer applications that provide thorough tenant screening; these comprehensive background checks include the basic application information (job history, rental history, and requires that the applicant provides some supporting documentation, ie. valid form of government ID, most recent paystubs, and contact information for prior landlords etc) - but in addition to the basic information, it includes the information pulled from TransUnion (one of the three major credit bureaus). This can include credit score, nationwide criminal background check, sex-offender list check, international criminal check, and eviction history (so any public records or information that might be connected to legal court proceedings would be pulled back as well). You have the ability to auto-request applications (keeps everything easy and in one place - so listing, tenant screening applications, leases and other tools like rent collection and maintenance tracking are all available, just to keep the process seamless). Let me know if you have any questions. Would be more than happy to help! @Vincent Plant

Heath M. · Answer

I use Cozy for that but there may be better options.  I have no complaints so far tho.

Screen tenants website?

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