Note: a Mortgage Credit Report will pick up dirt that those worthless "Online" consumer fico score reports won't show.Depending on how much of a Credit Criminal you have on your hands, in addition to a substantial "refundable deposit ask for 1st month's and last 2 month's rent up front (note: need to open an escrow account to deposit the rent payments and deposit collected)Write lease with an "EPD"  (Early Payment Discount), meaning if they ensure that you receive the monthly payment BEFORE the 1st day of the month, the rent is discounted $50, $100, $300 or whatever, depending on if you are leasing out a $50k home or a $3,000,000 home.And the very first time the rent is 5 days late, hire an evection company to go post an eviction notice to start the process and/or show them you are not playing and they will likely ensure you receive the rest of the rents on time after thatAnd I could go on and on listing things to do, but these are a few good ones  

The OP can have the prospective tenant look it up online, and also ask the notary (from a “neutral” business location - not a possible friend of the OP) to explain what notarizing a doc means.If the prospective tenant would not be satisfied by going with a notary after reading 470PC (a felony, or at least a wobbler,) on top of the very acceptance of money for the property under false pretenses being a violation of 470PC (but criminals get away without being positively identified all the time) in itself, I’d, then, say that nothing would satisfy the tenant.I imagine that just mentioning the notary - without having anyone read the legal statute - should be enough.

You can’t make this stuff up.We have an applicant who had the following 4 charges expunged from her record:-aggregated assault -burglary-criminal attempt - CRIMINAL HOMICIDE -conspiracy- aggravated assault Sounds like a model citizen, right?

I'm a "Cyber Analyst" currently living in Honolulu, HI.

It is borderline criminal.

Is it normal to do a criminal back round check on prospective tenants ?   

Insurance, finger print, some times criminal background check and a sponsor whom you wish to pay him under his brokerage. 

Set a standard for tenants (such as minimum credit score, no past evictions, clean criminal record, etc) and do not sway from this standard.

Here's a statement you will likely find on every credit/criminal background check:You are hereby advised that all information in the report is confidential and may not be disclosed by you to any person other than Applicant, and then, only in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).Just because the Landlord hires someone as the agent doesn't change anything.

on the property because the owner is liable for restitution in a criminal case;4.