Showing posts with label employment verification. Show all posts
Showing posts with label employment verification. Show all posts

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Do’s and Don’ts Tenant Screening


This one goes out to all of the new landlords, or those feeling hurried with the hustle and bustle of the end-of-the-year:


Do:

Call the tenant’s references listed on the rental application.


Don’t:

Email or text the tenant’s references. You need to speak to a REAL person.

DO: Pick up the phone & speak with references


Do:

Run a credit check.


Don’t:

Ask the tenant applicant for a credit score and take their word for it.


Do:

Verify employment. Check a website, make a phone call and get proof the applicant is employed where they claim to be.


Don’t:

Take “self-employed” as an answer. Request W-2’s to prove there is an actual income!


Do:

Verify identity with license or government issued form of ID.


Don’t:

Ask them about their religion, sexual preferences, or native origin. It’s none of your business and has no weight on your decision to enter into a lease according to the Fair Housing Laws of the United States.


For this and more information about tenant screening, please visit our website at http://www.atshome.com


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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Questions to Ask When Pre-Screening Tenants


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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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Silly Excuses and Tricks Used By Tenants


New landlords beware: Some tenants or applicants can be deceptive. If you are gullible and fall for the lies, you could lose money on your investment. Here are some tips for spotting and exposing a tenant’s excuses.

The bank messed up.” – This excuse might be given if a rent check bounces. Don’t be fooled. In 2013, banks have excellent technology and usually don’t make mistakes.  However, it could happen. If a bank error did occur, the tenant should easily be able to provide a letter sent directly from their financial institution. If the tenant cannot provide any letter from the bank, than you should be skeptical. Do not waiver on charging a late fee.

I just forgot to mail the rent check, again.”  - It’s understandable that mistakes can happen once in a blue moon. Chances are though if you let a tenant get away with it once, they will do it again and again. Stay firm on charging your late fees. If you slap the tenant with a $25 fine, it’s likely they will not “forget” to mail the rent again. Don’t be the nice landlord and let it slide month-after-month, or you could be taken for a ride.

Falsifying employment. – A really deceptive tenant applicant might try to fake their job status by providing landlords with a phony phone number to their so-called place of employment. You should verify all business telephone numbers with published listings, so you know if the place you call for a reference is an actual employer. Also, conduct a thorough tenant screening with employment verification included in the package.


Visit ATS Inc's homepage to find out more about our tenant screening services!

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Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Save social media for marketing


Businesses of all kinds are using social media, mostly as a marketing and public relations tool. Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, LinkedIn profiles and Pinterest accounts are quickly becoming must-haves in many industries. Interacting with consumers, gaining followers, promoting products and services … it all can be done online for free through social media sites.

But some businesses are finding another use for social media: Background checks. It’s a tempting practice, the ease with which you can look up a potential employee or tenant on Facebook to see what kind of person you’re about to hire – or accept as a tenant. But is it a good idea?

We think it’s a risky endeavor for a few reasons. First of all, there are privacy concerns associated with using people’s personal information and photos to make a judgment about their potential as a tenant. In fact, Fair Housing laws are in place to keep such discrimination at bay.
Second, it’s too easy to make a mistake. There are tons of folks out there with the same name, and you can’t be absolutely sure you’ve got the right Jane Doe’s Facebook page or Twitter feed. And even if you’re sure it’s the right person, the inferences you make about what you see could very well be false. For instance, just because Jane has a lot of photos of herself with two big dogs doesn’t mean they’re her dogs and will potentially be moving into your rental property with her.
It’s best to stick to the tried and true tenant screening methods of having the tenant applicant undergo a credit check, background check and employment verification. Leave the social media to your marketing plan



Visit ATS Inc's homepage for more information about our Tenant Screening Services 

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Hire a Tenant Screening Service That Tailors The Reports to Your Needs

Every tenant is different, and therefore no two rental applications or tenant screening reports will look the same. Each time you’re vetting potential tenants, it’s of the utmost importance to get the necessary background information about them to ensure they are who they say they are, with the job they claim to hold, and the clean rental history they say they have.

But every circumstance is a little bit different, and you shouldn’t be forced to pay for a lump of tenant screening services if you don’t necessarily need all of them. Perhaps you already have verified a person’s employment. Perhaps they’ve provided you with a recent copy of their credit report. Whatever the circumstances are, you should hire a professional tenant screening service that is willing and able to tailor the screening service to your needs, only generating those reports you really need and not wasting your time and your applicant’s money with frivolous checks and duplicate reports.

When searching for the right tenant screening service, find out whether they offer different levels of background screening services. Research until you find a reputable company that offers everything from single a la carte screening services, to full-service background screening packages that check everything from employment verification and previous eviction reports to criminal records and sex offender registries. 


http://www.alwaysscreen.com/
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Thursday, June 16, 2011

Use Same Standards During Each Tenant Screening Process

Selecting a tenant isn’t rocket science, but it can be a complicated, confusing process if you don’t have a set plan in place. Every landlord should have a set list of standards that any prospective tenant must meet in order to be approved to sign the lease and move in. Those standards may differ from landlord to landlord, based on personal preferences, the type of rental unit, and past experiences with tenants. Here are some recommended standards for approving a tenant application:

• The application itself is properly completed.
• The prospective tenant is 18 or older.
• The prospective tenant must prove a monthly income that is three times the amount of the monthly rent.
• There can be no previous evictions on the tenant’s record.
• The tenant has a clean criminal record.
• The tenant’s credit score must be at least XXX.
• The tenant must be currently employed, and undergo a successful employment verification process.
• The tenant’s previous landlord must give a positive recommendation.

Whatever a landlord decides his standards for application approval are, those standards should be written down and checked (twice!) during each tenant screening process for every single applicant. That’s because in the rush to find a tenant — amid the sea of paperwork and reports and the business of collecting fees and applications — it’s easy to overlook a standard or two. It’s easy to forget that you were supposed to call their previous landlord or their current employer. So write down your list of standards and keep it on file to adhere to each and every time.


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