Finding a high-quality tenant assures that your
rented property will be taken good care of and you will enjoy a stable cash flow. A rigorous tenant screening process can help you achieve these goals. Alternatively, if you are lax while selecting renters, it can lead to several problems later, which may sometimes require legal intervention.
Given the importance of this step, here are a few best tenant screening practices for landlords.
Establish Criteria for Qualifying Potential Arlington Tenants
Setting the criteria for qualifying potential tenants can help you in selecting the candidates as per your requirements. You can decide whether you want to place a tenant with a certain credit score and little or no eviction history. You can also require fulfillment of criteria such as pets or no pets, income sources, criminal background information, landlord references, and smoking habits, among others.
Verify Their Credentials Before Placing Them In Your Arlington Home
Their identity proof can assure you of the legitimacy of your prospective tenant. Ask them for their government-issued IDs, like a driver's license, social security number, or a state identification card, even if the tenant is someone you know. This proof can help you in verifying their background information.
Check Proof of Employment and Income
Validating the employment and income of the renter is another best practice for effective tenant screening. It will determine their financial capability of paying rent. You can also call their employer or the company to verify their credibility. Also, inform the prospective tenant about the consequences of late rent payments and late fees.
Check Their Criminal Records and Credit Score
A criminal history is a deal-breaker for several landlords. If the tenant has a criminal record, you can reconsider renting your property to them. Additionally, ask the prospective tenant to produce a credit report, as it can give you an overview of their current credit card debt, pending payments, mortgages, or medical bills. Based on our experience, it is better to hire applicants with a high credit score as they are usually more financially stable.
Contact Previous Landlords
At Arlington Realty Property Management, we help you find reliable tenants by implementing these and several other best practices for tenant screening.
For more information,
contact us at Arlington Realty Property Management.
