Use the same tenant screening process every single time

You’re a good judge of character, right? Every landlord thinks they have a natural gut instinct for picking out the honest, responsible tenant in a sea of possibly unqualified applicants.  There are signs to look for, of course. For example, a tenant applicant’s personal appearance – not to mention their punctuality – when they meet you to tour the rental property can tell you a lot about how they handle responsibility and how they care for their personal property. Also their tenant application can provide clues, based on the job and education they list, not to mention whether it is filled out in its entirety or turned in unfinished.

Many landlords still rely on their gut to tell them whether or not a particular tenant applicant is worthy of signing a rental property agreement and becoming their tenant.  If you are one of these landlords, have you ever faltered from that instinct? Have you ever considered accepting a tenant applicant on first impression alone, but then gone ahead with a tenant credit check or other form of formal tenant verification just to settle your lingering doubts? If so, you could be opening yourself up to claims of discrimination by a tenant or tenant applicant who feels they were treated in a way that was different and discriminatory.

Look, even if you are a great judge of character, property management is a business, and in business it’s best to rely on cold hard facts – every single time. Set yourself up with tenant screening protocols for every single tenant applicant you are seriously considering, and don’t waver from those protocols. That way you can be sure you’re being fair to all, AND you’re almost guaranteeing a better tenant than if you’d just “gone with your gut.” Visit ATS Inc's homepage for more info on how we can help you! 

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Landlords, Would You Rather Rent to Obama or Romney?

As the presidential election nears, Apartments.com had a little fun by surveying their visitors to find out who U.S. renters want to win the election: A whopping 66.8 percent said they’d prefer Obama was elected, with 21.6 percent favoring a Romney/Ryan White House.

When respondents were asked who they think will win the election, Obama had even better numbers, with 78.3 percent of renters polled predicting the president will win re-election. Obama also proved to be more popular on a personal level with renters than Romney. The survey showed 74 percent would rather have the president as a roommate while only 26 percent preferred Romney. Apartment dwellers would also rather give their rent checks to Obama, with 74.4 percent saying they would rather have Obama as their landlord and 25.6 percent preferring Romney.

Apartments.com did a similar survey four years ago before the last presidential election, and they noticed some similarities and differences in the answers four years later. For example, the number of survey respondents who said they are registered to vote fell 10 percent from 2008 to 2012, and more than 40 percent described themselves as very politically active back in 2008 in contrast to the 22 percent who consider themselves that way today.

Respondents were not asked about tenant verification for the two candidates, but it’s a pretty safe bet they’d both pass a rental background check and renter credit check with flying colors.

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

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