Tenant screening can be very time consuming if you do a thorough job of it, but it’s well worth your time if it prevents you from having to evict your renters in the future. Don’t misunderstand me – most applicants I’ve encountered are great and honorable people, but sometimes you come across a bad apple that will end up costing you thousands and thousands of dollars. If you want to learn how to avoid these “bad apples”, tune in for the 5-part daily series about tenant screening.
Once all of the information listed in Tenant Screening – Don’t Let Them Lie To You! (Part 1 of 5) is collected, here’s how I proceed with verifying it:
Tenant Screening – Verify Address and Landlord information:
Since I’m a licensed real estate Broker, I have access to the on-line tax records via MLS. If you are not licensed, ask a realtor you know to check the tax records for you, or reply to my blog and I will gladly help you.
- Check the Driver’s License for the current address (one of the reasons I require copies of the driver’s licenses) and compare it to the address on the application
- If the addresses on the driver’s license and the application match, check to see who owns the property, and if the name on the tax records matches the name of the landlord on the application
- If you can find the landlord’s phone number on the tax records, use that number to call the previous landlord(s)
- If the landlord’s phone number is not listed in the tax records, use ZabaSearch.com or the on-line white pages to find his/her phone number
- If all you have is a phone number, or if you want to cross-check it, use the ReverseSearch.com phone number look-up service online
For Employment verification tips, please come back tomorrow and read Tenant Screening – Lies About Employment & Salary! (Part 3 of 5).
P.S. If you have an experience or additional tips you would like to share, please do so.
October 23, 2009
Landlord Tenant Relations