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Tenant Screening Requirements for Rental Income Peace of Mind

About me , I have been a Landlord for over 14 years now managing my own rental property that my wife and I have owned since August of 1990.

When we first purchased our first condo home in 1990, I did not have the creative visualization at that time to seriously think of one day being a landlord. But being a landlord I have been for over 14 years now and I have learned a thing or two about tenant screening .

During the course of 14 years being a landlord I have only been burned during the times I did not do proper tenant screening.

The times I did not perform a thorough credit check, in verifying tenant credit worthiness which resulted from very poor decision making on my part, because in the end it cost me money due to lost rental income.

I can attest first hand, you do not want to have to take time off from work, spending time in court for tenant evictions and losing rental income from not conducting a proper and thorough credit check. Prudent real estate investing requires careful tenant screening for your later retirement planning goals.

Tenant Screening Basics for All Prospective Tenants

Check and verify all all prospective tenant screening applicants’ current place of living. Find out why they are looking to move, not just from your prospective tenant, but from the tenant’s current landlord.

Check thoroughly and verify current place of employment for all tenant screening applicants. If two people are to be included on the rental lease, you need to verify employment for all parties involved.

Inform your prospective tenants that you intend to do a credit check, by checking the tenant credit. If the prospective applicant is not paying his or her bills including their current landlord, you can almost bank with 100% certainty , should you rent to them, they won’t be paying your rent either.

Tenant Screening Services

I manage and handle my own tenant screenings myself; interviewing prospective tenant applicants, but there are also many reputable real estate investing companies that provide tenant screening for rental property investment purposes.

If you chose to to hire a tenant screening agency, there are several reputable online tenant screening agencies that will verify tenant credit worthiness such as; www.e-renter.com and www.tenantscreeningreport.com for a nominal fee in using their tenant screening services.

One observation that I have noted from tenant screening applicants, is that I can recall prospective tenants that were ideal tenants; they had excellent employment references, excellent current and past landlord references, had excellent debt elimination goals-being current on all out-standing debt balances, yet I had to file eviction proceedings of two past tenants for failure to pay my rent on time.

As with anything else in life, tenant screening is only a gauge on the credit worthiness of any prospective tenant applicant and is no guarantee on future rental income credit worthiness.

My current tenant for 2.5 years was the worst tenant on paper regarding credit worthiness, and I gave him a chance to prove me wrong.

He told me he had a shady past, was getting his life together had a good job and I gave him a chance which he has completely lived up to his rental income paying responsibilities. Honesty really is the best policy.

Always Remember: ”The only Unfulfilled Goals in Your Life are the Ones you Never Attempt”

Personal Goal Setting