All Forum Posts by: Vitaliy Merkulov

Also, I'm trying to find other ways to screen tenants better since credit reports will no longer have negative reports on 12 million people starting July 1 2017

@Kim Younkin many landlords check applicant's credit reports, evictions, bad tenant database, plus social networks to see if they can find any "red flags" about the applicants. 

For example, if you have a no-smoking policy, and you see the applicant's social media show them smoking. Or if you have a no-pets policy, but see photos of the applicant's pet in recent posts.

Some landlords even said that when checking social media account on one of their applicants, they found a post that said something like "the next house will be the best party house"

Right now, I just google the applicant's name and find any social media accounts associated with their name. If their profile is not private, I try to look at their posts to see if I can find any "red flags" or something that would not add up to their application.

I'm trying to find a way to search all the social media accounts from one place. Does anyone else have the same need? Or you don't have a problem googling your applicant?

Is there a way to search all major social media account about "joe doe" from one place? Where I would be able to drill down to the right Joe Doe by providing information that I have on his rental application?

• email address
• Location (state or even city and state)
• phone number

What is the "system" that you have in place to check social media accounts for your applicants?

@Pedro Martins as a landlord, it's in my own interest to know as much as possible about the "guests" (tenants) that will be living in my units. By having access to their social media accounts, I will be able to "profile" applicants based on what I see. Now that credit reports are going to remove negative information on tenants, I'm looking for other ways to be able to find negative information on people who might cost me a lot of problems (not just financial) 

@Account Closed I'm convinced not to require applicant's to share their social media with me. But I'm now trying to find better ways to be able to search the applicant's public social media and other public info about them.

I'm hoping that I can find some kind of tool that will let me search multiple social media accounts at a time and find anything that might be a red flag. I think that's a different topic.

There is no way to search all major social media account about "joe doe" from one place? Where I would be able to drill down to the right Joe Doe by providing information that I have on his rental application?

• email address  
• Location (state or even city and state)
• phone number

Maybe someone needs to build something like this... Or am I too lazy?

 I use Renter Inc to report bad tenants. There is also a useful feature that gives me an option to email the the tenant a copy of the report so they can see what the report looks like. I've had couple of renters "change their ways" after seeing that they are being reported for real. 

@Jeff B. Do you just rely on a credit report, evictions, and landlord references? If you google "Joe Doe". How do you know you're looking at the right "Joe Doe"?

@John A. So if I'm trying to google for social media accounts for  "Joe Doe" I would search for "@facebook Joe Doe" how do I pin point to the right person?

Thanks a lot of sharing what you think about it. Here are some things that I want to follow up with you all.

1. It's in the property owner's interest to do everything they can to make money on their rental business. Renter's ability to pay rent is only one of the credentials. I also want to make sure the tenant's next door don't move out because of the new tenants "living habits". That is why I check bad tenant database, check landlord reference, and now want to see other ways that I can learn more about applicant's true identity to lower the risk of getting a bad tenant. The laws are already significantly on the renter's side especially here in California. So I think we have to be creative in finding ways to protect our investments with whatever new ways technology allows us, (without breaking the law) Especially now that credit reports will no longer have some negative information in them. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/credit-reports-exclude-certain-negative-information-may-merkulov
2. I think you guys convinced me that asking applicant to connect their social media would be counter productive because applicants will know to clean them up before they share it with me.
3. If you're searching the applicant's social media accounts without asking them to share their social media profiles with you. Can you give them "adverse action" based on what you've seen on their public social media account? 
4. How do you search their social media accounts? Google their name? Is there a service where you can search multiple social media account of people?

Thanks a lot for your input. It helps a lot.

@Richard Wormwood thanks for sharing what you think about it. This is only when I screen tenants to see if I would accept them to live at my rental. 

I would require them to share access to their profile as part of the application. So if they block their profile form me, I will disqualify their application.

@Matthew Paul if they say that they don't have social media and I find out that they do have social media. I will disqualify them for lying on the application. If they really don't have any social media accounts. It's ok. I think there are more people who don't have a credit history then those who don't have any kind of social media.