All Forum Posts by: Alex Hamilton

Thanks for explaining your process @Stephen White. I understand verifying the relationship between a name on title and a name given on the application creates more work, but I think that's exactly what @Beverly Mims was asking for. The scenario you described is the very reason why you want to check title before calling, so you can ask a verifying party the right questions regarding ownership of the property.

In my opinion, much of our industry has streamlined tenant screening into automated systems that take legwork (and noses) out of the process. While there are obvious benefits to streamlined systems, there is no substitute for quality data coming directly from the source... as long as the source is verified first!

Good for you @Beverly Mims for asking this quiestion. Most screening companies don't do a title search on the property when completing a rental verification. It sounds like Rentprep doesn't either, but @Stephen White offers some additional tips that should be done by you or your Consumer Reporting Agency. I suggest verifying the info on the application before making calls, so you are better prepared to catch the applicant's "landlord" in a lie. 

Be sure to complete not just the current, but also the former landlord verification. Sometimes current landlords will lie to get rid of their problematic tenants. We've even heard stories of landlords claiming their tenants are terrible, hoping that they will stay in the property, due to their fear of vacancy.

@Kevin McGinnis each 18+ person who will be residing in the property should complete a rental application. You will be ordering 2 reports for the married couple, so you should charge both $35 for a total of $70. There may be some ways of reducing the cost of your screening report, so consult with you data provider to negotiate options to meet your goals.
@Benjamin Timmins

@Benjamin Timmins I see that you are looking for a system capable of prospects making payment for the application directly to your data provider. Can we connect to discuss some application payment alternatives in greater detail?

The source of criminal data is a County Court. Some, but NOT ALL counties report their criminal records to databases. A record found in one of these databases must be verified with the County Court before it can be reported. This is the reason your searches are sometimes taking several days to complete.

Keep in mind that if you are relying completely on a database for your criminal records, there will be false positive hits, discrepancies, inaccurate records and information that is not up-to-date. A database search should be used as a safety net or preliminary search. Just because a database offers million of records, doesn't mean the county your applicant is coming from is covered in the search.

I understand the inconvenience of waiting several days for the results of a background screening report. This issue boils down to a matter of speed versus quality information. Consult with your Consumer Reporting Agency to make sure you are receiving a report that helps you achieve your property goals.

Hello Fred,

Most property management companies and some landlords work with their own Consumer Reporting Agencies to obtain information about their prospective renters. You can try to order your own credit report and see if wherever you apply will accept it. ExperianConnect allows you to order your credit report and invite landlords to view on their secure website. Let me know if you would like details. Good luck!

Yes, you should rent to this applicant if their verifications come in good.

Alternatively, you should change your credit requirements set for the property. Don't base your approval decisions on the feeling you get, that's how you get sued for discrimination. Talk to your CRA or a tenant screening professional that can advise you on FCRA and Fair Housing regulations.

Good luck!

Hello James,

Make sure to establish a screening criteria and apply it to each applicant without bias. If you are looking at an applicant's credit score, consider why they have bad credit. Look at their debt to income ratio, amount of 30/60/90 day late payments and types of delinquent accounts. Below is an example of a Risk Assessment that you may find useful:

Positive credit = Low Risk; accept applicant

Negative credit due to Educational Loan Delinquencies or Medical Payments = Med Risk; approve applicant with increased deposit/co-signer

Negative credit due to utility delinquency, money owed to a property management company or homeowner, car payment or unsecured debts = High Risk; turn down applicant

Unfortunately, FICO doesn't do a great job of considering the above Risk Assessment when scoring a consumer. You may want to try using VantageScore (made for tenant screening) or eliminating the FICO Score from your screening criteria altogether. 

You may also want to consider refining your verification process. I understand the prior landlord references didn't have anything bad to say, but did they have anything positive to say? How did you verify the information on the application? Did you verify income with their employer?

Feel free to contact me directly with additional questions regarding tenant screening. I'm happy to offer tips. Good luck!

I agree with @James Wise. It's best to assume your investors will eventually need to levy someone's bank account, so having this information before a lease up will expedite the collections process.

Also, this may sound like common sense, but be sure to get a signature authorizing the credit pull and investigation. You can be fined and lose credit access for failing to obtain proper authorization before investigating an applicant's credit history. Good luck!

You can send the Online Application by email. Prospective renters complete the application online and pay the screening fee with their credit card through a secure web portal. Then, you get an email notification and login to view the screening report. Feel free to contact me directly to setup an account for this.

Yes @Sarnen Steinbarth, there are some consumer initiated options for "soft pull" credit reports available through the credit bureaus. They require the applicant to setup an account and order their own report, then inviting the end user to view their report online.

In my opinion, you're better off getting information directly from the source or having a Consumer Reporting Agency obtain it for you. Get credit reports from the credit bureaus, criminal and public records from the courts and verify application information with employers/landlords.

Besides, an applicant is either qualified for your rental unit or they're not. They shouldn't have to compete with other renters for a place to live. They would have to wait for ALL their "better qualified counterparts" to obtain residency if that were the case. You'll also end up getting a lot of people changing their mind for a different rental the DAY OF lease signing as @Tom Ott pointed out. The entire purpose of a "hard pull" credit report is to discourage consumers from applying at multiple places at a time. Tenant screening is done this way for good reason.

Speaking of litigation @Fred Dray, I'm sure choosing tenants by pitting them against each other in a bidding war for your rental sounds like a sure fire way to land yourself in court!

Lastly, I agree with @Mike S.regarding the original question in this thread. Since the rental market and economy are so unpredictable at this time, you may end up regretting what seems like a great idea - the long term lease.