All Forum Posts by: Sarnen Steinbarth

@John Truong

I have personally had over 1000 tenants, and never needed that in court for an eviction.  I also don't need it for tenants sent to collection.

Historically about the only thing it was necessary for was identity verification and/or obtaining a credit report (not needed for criminal reports).  

Since identity verification and credit reports are provided, there really should not be a need to have SSN information.

That said, if you still feel you need it you could ask for a copy of a tenants Social Security card.

@Terri Mccullough

I'd be really cautious allowing a tenant to bring their own credit report to you.  You will want to make sure you get it from the source.

If you allow tenants to bring their own reports, then likely they will all look good.

The good tenants will have good credit and bring you their report.

The bad tenants will have bad credit and edit their report to make it look good (really easy to do if they pull it themselves).

The problem for you will be:  Who are really the good (report) tenants?

@Ashley Millar

I'd be careful not taking into account credit history as part of your tenant screening.

For criminal I suppose it depends how thorough you want to get.  Local law enforcement agencies may have a database you can search for free without the tenant's involvement.  Or you could use any one of number of national databases that private companies compile.

For identity verification you could get copies of a government issued photo ID.

Not looking at all at credit scores I do think is a mistake.  There is a reason most professional landlords, RE agents and PMs do the following for screening:

• Credit
• Criminal
• Eviction
• Ability to pay
• Landlord References
• Professional References

No phone either?

Our site is mobile friendly.

It sounds like you are wanting to pull the tenant's credit without their involvement.  This is a "hard hit" and affects their credit. To pull a credit report, you typically need to have a physical onsite inspection at your place of business.

I'd suggest learning:

• Landlord-tenant laws in your area
• Fair housing laws
• Basic of acquiring rental properties (loan process, real estate offers, etc.)
• Basics of managing rental properties (leasing process, rental agreements provisions, inspections, etc.)
• Basics of renovating properties
• Develop a list of contractors (Handyman, plumber, electrician, HVAC, flooring, painters, etc.)

If you are genuinely interested in learning, and willing to do an unpaid internship, I would leave it at that and let the person help to guide you on tasks.  If they want you to just lick envelopes, then you found the wrong mentor.

I wouldn't bring up the employment piece.  If you are interested after a few months, great - then you would be in a much better negotiating point if they like you anyway.

A few points of clarification:

1. While, yes, the tenant does have to verify their identity, the results are instant
2. There a handful of benefits to this method:
   1. The identity verification process does, just that:  It helps to determine the identity of the applicant, by asking questions that typically only the applicant would know, adding an extra layer of assurance that the person you are dealing with is not under a fraudulent or assumed identity.
   2. Landlords do not need to go through the site-inspection process, they can get up and running right away.  Making it actually much faster for many landlords.
   3. It is considered a "soft pull" in which the tenant's credit score is not affected in anyway.
   4. The landlord does not need to know or have access to the tenant's social security number.  Something that, increasingly, good tenants are not wanting to share with a landlord with whom they don't know much about.

I totally agree that there is a place for both, and that thorough tenant screening is the #1 way to avoid bad tenants and eviction headaches.

@Mackal Smith

We have some amazing tenant screening options and are very popular in St. Louis.

(We also have some great marketing features, so you won't need to use a separate account for your marketing.)

I'll send you a message with more info.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!

I had 44, self managed (while working full-time, it was a little crazy).

Sold 42 and bought 7 as part of a move to a new state.

Now self-manage 7 and have a PM for the 2 that are out-of-state.

@Mike Hanneman

We are in the final stages of development on the rent payment feature and plan to have it in place by June.

Feel free to message me direct or email me - I'll be happy to get you into our limited Beta if you want to be among the first to try it.

Thanks!

@Bill J.

What particular features are you looking for?

- Marketing

- Screening

- Online Applications

- Rent Payments

- Maintenance

- Accounting

?