How is American Tenant Screening performed?
Residential landlords and American tenant screening companies mainly use American tenant screening to evaluate their potential renters. The fundamental objective of this process is to measure the possibility that the tenant will fulfill the terms of the lease or rental agreement. Furthermore, they also want to know that they will also take good care of the rental property. The process concludes with a decision to approve or reject the applicant for the tenancy or rental agreement
The American tenant screening procedure mostly starts whenever the possible tenant submits a rental application, pays an application fee, and pays a holding deposit. It is vital to know the American Tenant Screening procedure. Following are the most critical steps of this process.
You can also check our guide: How Does The California Renter Credit Work?
Follow the Law
American tenant screening companies should treat all prospective tenants equally. They have to follow the Federal Fair Housing Act, which is specially created to avoid discrimination against certain groups of people in any activity related to housing.
Choose a Tenant with Good Credit
The fundamental objective of the American tenant screening company should be to search for a financially responsible tenant. You want to look for an economically accountable tenant. He or she should be highly responsible while paying bills to the government. It is advantageous to have such a person as your tenant as he would also pay rent on time. The financial position of the tenant can be checked by following two-step process :
- Verify Income:
An American tenant screening company must look for a tenant whose monthly income is at least three times more than the monthly rent. The landlord could also ask the tenant’s employer to confirm their monthly earnings, employment, length of work, and attendance record.
- Run a Credit Check:
Even if their income is three times the monthly rent, you have to check how much debt they have to pay. The landlord must look for prior evictions, civil judgments against, or bankruptcies.
Perform a Criminal Background Check
An American tenant screening company must carry out a criminal background check. The criminal information is readily available on various government websites and courthouses. This thing would help you to check out for some minor or major offenses. It would be best to run this criminal background check if you have the tenant’s name and date of birth. The detailed record check could be done through the following websites
- Federal Court Record Search
- A Statewide Criminal Record Search
- A County Criminal Court Search
- A Department of Corrections Offender Search
- Sexual Offender Database Search
It would be a highly tiresome process to look for the background criminal record. Therefore, it is incredibly beneficial to hand over this process to some experienced company. It may be best to hire a reputable American tenant screening company. It can often be combined with the credit check, for an additional fee, of course.
Check the Tenant’s Rental History
An American tenant screening company must check the rental history of his prospective tenant. You can also talk to the previous landlords of the tenant.
Look for a Stable Tenant
An American tenant screening company must look for a financially stable tenant. Therefore, he or she must analyze the employment history and check whether he/she switches jobs frequently? Tenant must show consistency while doing his/her assignments.
Number of family members
An American tenant screening company must look for a tenant with a short family. A person with a large family can cause damage to your property investment. Kids in a large family could prove to be dangerous for the property. Therefore, you have to spend more on the maintenance of your property.
