Screening prospective tenants is a crucial part of protecting your rental property investment. It may seem time-consuming to fine-tune your application process and conduct background checks, but it’s well worth the effort. Properly screening applicants helps prevent financial losses, property damage, and legal liabilities, ultimately helping you save time and money.

No tenant is perfect, but a comprehensive screening and vetting system will increase your odds of finding good renters. This process begins when you first meet a prospective renter. This initial meeting helps you get to know the prospective tenant and form a first impression. While this first impression is important, it shouldn’t be the only thing you rely on, which is where the rental application comes in.

Need help with your screening process? Turn to the professionals at Tidewater Property Management for a streamlined tenant screening process.

Set Your Criteria for an Ideal Tenant

Every landlord has their idea of an ideal tenant, and you’re free to choose whoever they want, as long as you follow all local, state, and federal fair housing laws.

Due to the Fair Housing Act, it’s prohibited to make housing unavailable to anyone based on race, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability status. To discriminate against tenants based on these factors is illegal. However, you can base your decisions on factors such as income, credit report, employment, occupancy, or previous rental history.

Use a Rental Application Form

A rental application form helps you better understand a prospective renter’s financial stability and personal history. This process will protect you if your first impression doesn’t accurately reflect what kind of tenant they’d be.

In your rental application, it’s important to include information such as:

• Rental agreement details: Clearly specify details like the address, rent amount, and security deposit requirements.
• Personal information: Capture details such as their name, social security number, how many occupants there will be, contact information, date of birth, and details of their government-issued identification.
• Residence history: You may ask about the applicant’s current and past living situations, such as the type of residence, address, move-in/ move-out dates, landlord information, and reason for leaving.
• Employment and income verification: What’s most important is whether the applicant makes enough money to cover the rent and if their income is stable. Keep an eye out for frequent job changes, long periods of unemployment, and a high debt-to-income ratio.
• Miscellaneous: Other factors to consider include any history of filing for bankruptcy, previous evictions, criminal records, and lifestyle factors like smoking habits and pets.

Conduct a Background Check

A background check is a great way to assess the suitability of a potential renter. It provides information about a person’s financial, criminal, and eviction history, helping you ensure they are responsible and reliable and can meet their rental obligations.

To conduct a background check on a potential tenant, you must:

• Obtain written consent
• Gather the necessary information
• Choose a background check service
• Run the background check
• Evaluate the report and make an informed decision

Check Rental History and References

It’s always smart to call an applicant’s current and former landlords. References can let you know if they were evicted, committed any violations, caused any damage to the property, or missed payments. You can use a rental history report to obtain information on where a tenant has lived in the past, but you need them to sign a consent form to allow you to contact their previous landlords.

You can ask prospective tenants for a list of references from their employers and previous landlords. Be aware that some applicants might try to lie or ask a friend or relative to pretend to be a reference.

Call Tidewater Property Management for Streamlined Tenant Screening

Tidewater Property Management provides superior services in property management, property maintenance, and real estate. Our team is here to help rental property owners with every step of the tenant screening process so you can rest easy.

Contact Tidewater today for more information about our property management services.