Eviction screening

[Maria Vogel]

Hey everyone! 

Is it worth it to do a screening for eviction on clients? I have evicted one tenant and have other renters who pay on time and I have never uploaded their information to anyone. I'm wondering how the information can be accurate? Is there a database this information should be entered into? I'm guessing there's a lot of landlords who also have no idea about this also and the report wouldn't be accurate anyway. 

Thoughts? 

[Ben W.]

Do you ever take your tenants to court?  That is really where the data gets pulled, not from landlords necessarily "reporting" to a third party bureau.  If you are not at least filing for eviction or filing to collect past due rent, then you may be missing something.  

I would also suggest that you look at the systems, processes and tools that you have set for your business.  As an experienced landlord/buy and hold investor, I would also answer your question this way:  in today's used car buying market, there is a thing called Carfax.  It gives a history of the car.  Maybe not every car is tracked, but if the one you are buying is, and you later found out that you didn't pay the $75 to get the report but that this was a Florida water damaged car..... wouldn't you be a little upset with yourself?  Now, maybe the car that was damaged didn't get reported through clear title or something else happened along the way, but follow me?  I do a little coaching and I always ask:  Is this a business or a hobby?  With a hobby, you can be expected to be paid like a hobby; with a business, you should expect to be paid like a business.  So, use the tools that are available.  Build your own systems and stick to them.  In my business, which is heavy in the C, D, E, F and lower types of markets, if there are, we do not always screen for evictions.  BUT, I can tell you that we have developed systems and scripts to ensure that we know what kind of persons we are getting as tenants. 

Best of luck as your build your business.  Good for you being on here and challenging yourself to ask questions.