Tenant Background Checks

If you are considering renting out your property, then accurate tenant background screening is vital to protecting your rental property. Did you know that in the United States alone, there are more than 1.5 million forcible detainers filed each year? Besides, filing a civil action for defaulting on rent payment is costly and time consuming. The only way to ensure safe and happy tenancy is by conducting a thorough tenant background check.

Tenant background checks can help you get to know your tenant well. It will expose any false claims made by the tenant and help confirm any suspicions you may have about the client. Professional tenant background screening companies compile quite a lot of data to give you a clear cut impression of your tenant.

Generally, quality tenant background screening consists of the following reports:

Ø Highly detailed credit profile: This profile is provided by any one of the three national credit bureaus. This helps you ascertain payment history and the amount of debt outstanding, if any. It also throws light on your prospective tenant’s credit derogatories. In this report, you may find confirmation of social security number, address history and the place of your prospective tenant’s employment.

Ø Address history: Through this report, you will be able to verify the previous addresses that your client has lived in. This will also help you discover any black marks in your client’s history of conduct at these addresses, like property damage that is caused during tenancy or other such delinquent behavior.

Ø Public records: This includes civil judgments, tax liens, bankruptcy and driving license verification etc. Through the records presented here, you can also trace the banking habits of your prospective tenant. You can follow his check writing habits and cross reference his driving license number. A negative history consisting of incidents like bounced checks, bad checks or closed accounts should give you enough warning about the nature of your client.

Ø Eviction report: This ‘skip’ history will detail any eviction judgments for possession and restitution, defaults in payment of rent, eviction filings and any incidents of skipping out without court action.

A tenant background report is a must on every applicant, roommates and cosigners. This allows you to crosscheck the information that has been provided by your prospective tenant.

As you can see, tenant screening checks can help you insure yourself and your property against potentially deadbeat tenants. The best way to obtain a detailed tenant background check is through a professional and reputed tenant screening company. Selecting the right screening company is vital to your success. Choose a company based on their experience, turnaround time, expertise, database access and customer support. A company that has access to a nationwide eviction database will be able to provide you with sufficient data on tenants moving in and out of your local area. Since time is of utmost importance in these cases, rapid turnaround times are a must. Also, look for a company that presents their findings in detailed, decipherable reports so you are not left guessing at what the information means.