@Account Closed
You're looking for civil records in Maryland, correct? Guess what: Landlord/Tenant records aren't online! [http://www.courts.state.md.us/casesearch2/faq.html]
What records are not on Case Search?
Landlord tenant, marriage license records and all case types protected by the Maryland Rules on Access to Court Records.
Then maybe you don't know where to look. My wife does the screening and has told me about applicants that are co-plaintiffs on lead paint landlord/tenant suits and another case where an applicant had an eviction case pending.
"What happens when you have an out of state tenant, then what do you do?"
You do what you always do if you cannot find a way of getting the information you need. You don't rent to them.
"How do "make sure they are who they say they are?"
By making them produce multiple pieces of information that corroborate who they say you are instead of placing over-reliance on one that can be fraudulently procured.
"I 100% disagree on the credit report. I think the score can be confusing, but the actual report is a gold mine:"
And I am saying that a person that does the things can get better information about an applicant and doesn't need it
- "Does the applicant pay his bills? How often does he miss payments?"
That's why you ask him for his recent bank statements.
- "Is the applicant over leveraged?"
Total up the outgoings and the incomings on the bank statement.
- Has the applicant ever had serious collection issues? Why?
I've had a collection issue over a bank charge that I refused to pay. I know someone who has a collection issue because their tuition was paid late and the school refused to accept it when it arrived and a collections company jacked up the bill by 5 grand. Many of these things are irrelevant to people's attitude to their rent.
You are a landlord not a creditor.
"These kind of things directly impact the ability of a tenant to pay your rent, which is your #1 concern."
They don't. The things that impact the ability of the tenants we rent to are set out in my post.
"As a landlord you have EVERY Right to view this info."
Let's say you are correct about that. I don't know of any Rights that are not accompanied by obligations and responsibilities. Do you?
The institutions that have genuine need for credit reports are bound by those obligations and responsibilities and can be held liable for them.
In business there are many rights that a situation confers - I am discriminating about the ones I choose to invoke because rights usually go hand in hand with responsibilities.
"You're essentially giving someone complete access to a valuable asset on a monthly payment plan. Why wouldn't you want to know everything about them?"
Because they have a right to privacy and I am only interested in things that are relevant.
Because a tenancy is the right to have a roof over your head and the protections in law that go with it is also valuable to the tenant and for many it is a priority obligation.
Because the tenant cannot abscond with your house in the same way that they can abscond with money you've lent them.
Because a credit report cannot tell you whether the tenant is destructive or anti-social and last but not least but above all else
A tenancy is not a loan of money. That's why the law doesn't give borrowers the same rights that they give tenants and thats why it may not be the best idea to conflate the two and indiscriminately transplant the tools used for one to another.
"What I've discovered is that generally, the landlords who advocate omitting things from a screening haven't had to evict someone yet. Once that happens the tune changes."
