Before you hire professionals to conduct tenant screening services, you should
always do a pre-screen of tenant applicants over the phone or in-person. The
following are some questions you must ask during the initial screening to weed
out any potential problem applicants:
1.
Make sure
they can afford the rent. You need to make it clear how much the monthly
rent and security deposit amount are to anyone interested in renting from you.
Feel free to ask specifics about the applicant’s monthly income. As a landlord, you are within your rights to
determine the minimum amount applicants must earn in order to qualify for
residency consideration. A tenant who
is confident in their ability to make monthly rent checks will not balk at income questions.
2.
Be clear
about how what your tenant screening service provides. Any prospective tenant can lie about how much income
they make and whether or not they have been convicted of a crime. You need to make it clear during the
pre-screening that all serious applicants must consent to a thorough background check that will include employment verification, past eviction
searches and a credit report. You
will find the applicants who haven’t been honest up front will most likely
reconsider applying.
3.
Ask if
they have any pets. If you are a landlord who allows pets in your rental, explain
your guidelines from the beginning. Applicants should be told up-front how much
extra the security deposit will be, and if you have any pet restrictions. Do
you discriminate against certain dog breeds? Do you limit the number of animals
per resident?
4.
Let them
know how often you will be doing property inspections. Again, a tenant with nothing to hide will likely
agree to whatever terms you set forth in the lease agreement. However, if the applicant had previous intentions
of hiding a roommate or sneaking in pets without paying an extra deposit, they
will probably be less inclined to go through with submitting a rental
application.
Visit ATS Inc's homepage to find out more about our tenant screening services!
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