Tenant Application Content

[Frank Jennings]

I am constructing a tenant application and looking at others I noticed that some applications have spaces for bank account information and credit references. Do you recommend putting those on there? Wouldn't pulling their credit, which I intend to do, show that information anyway?

[Joseph Asamoah]

Hi, I agree there's no need to recreate the wheel. Leverage other people's applications - it will save you time and energy. The more information you can gather about the prospect, the better you will be in the event you need to collect any owed money in the future. 

I've had mixed results with tenant screening companies. They run the gamut from great to a waste of money. 

My tenant screening process is now very thorough. I screen all applicants in-house including speaking to and verifying all references. We also visit prospective tenant's homes before making a final decision. You may wonder why all this? It's very simple. I'd rather invest the time on the front-end than pay dearly on the back-end in the event you get a bad tenant. I've found that over 80% of my tenant problems are rooted in a bad tenant selection. I've found that it's generally easy to get someone in your house, but its more difficult to get them out once they are in.