Tips on Screening Applicants

While the subject of screening may sound intrusive to some applicants, it’s the Landlord and/or Property Manager’s first, and best, line of defense against renting to deadbeat Tenants.

However, how much screening should the Landlord do? Is it enough to only screen the applicant for employment or current residence? We think not.

In order to be successful all Landlords or Property Managers, whether full-time, part-time, or hobby, should screen ALL applicants with the following criteria:

1. Current Employment,

2. Previous Homes (rented apartments, houses, etc.),

3. Past Evictions,

4. Cleanliness, and

5. Criminal Activity

This article will briefly touch upon the last area of applicant screening; criminal screening. The reason why this is such an important method of screening is because whether landlord or tenant, we all want to feel safe in our homes and have peaceful places to live.

Consider the following tips when determining how to implore effective, yet fair and consistent criminal screening policies.

Define your criminal criteria in writing. Determine what offenses are not just unacceptable, but also which ones are acceptable. For example, you might determine that speeding tickets or minor misdemeanors are acceptable, whereas you might feel that drug related or violent offenses towards people, whether misdemeanor or felony, are not acceptable. It is also important to note a time frame for when these offenses may or may not have occurred. For example, xyz offense may not have occurred within the past 5 years.
Properly educate yourself on discrimination laws. To be fair and also to protect yourself from a discrimination lawsuit, remember to only look at the records and facts. Don’t make assumptions based on things such as an applicant’s name or clothing attire. Consistency protects you, so make sure to treat all applicants equally. For example, you can’t disqualify an applicant based on criminal screening if you’re not actually screening everyone.
Verify that your screening criteria falls within local, county, state, and federal guideline laws.
Verify that your applicant is whom they claim to be; make sure you have the correct applicant. For example, if your applicant claims to be Kerry Doe, while your applicant might be male, the record you pull may be for a female. Make sure to verify an applicant’s identity by checking a government issued ID such as a driver’s licenses, identification card, social security card, or passport.
Remember, the time you spend up front properly screening your applicants will save you an exponential amount of time, money, and aggravation when compared to renting to a deadbeat tenant that decides to not pay rent, treat your rental property as a dumpster, or worse yet, scare away your other tenants.

An effective screening policy will also serve as the Landlord’s protection from preying applicants looking for unfair, inconsistent, or unequal treatment by Landlords, even if it wasn’t the Landlord’s intention to do so.

Lastly, properly screening applicants will insure you and your tenants have a safe place to live and will provide you both with peace of mind.

As the cliché goes, “What you don’t know, WILL, hurt you!”

 

For more information, please visit us at www.neatolandlordforms.com

 

We are not attorneys, are not providing any individuals with direct advice, and all articles are written for entertainment purposes only and are only to be used as such.