Conduct a Background Check on Prospective Tenants / Renters (risk-free trial)

In both commercial and residential leases, there is always the risk of lost income resulting if a tenant breaks a lease and suddenly vacates, or from the elapsed time for completing extensive repairs during which the property can’t be leased. These are nightmare risk scenarios that can be minimized by conducting background checks before renting an apartment, condo, home or commercial space to a prospective tenant.

The steps presented here will dramatically reduce the risks of facing at a later stage, either tenant evictions or costly repairs.

You can run a Background Check online right now, by simply conducting a search in our vast network of Public Records and Proprietary Databases, here. You’ll get top quality search results about your prospective tenants within minutes.

The implementation of a tenant screening process will reduce future problems with your tenant.

By checking on the background of a potential renter here at Investigations123.com, and thereby establishing the profile of your prospective tenant, the risks of experiencing the scenarios referred above become much lower.

The first contact with a prospective tenant takes place very often by telephone, particularly if the property to be rented has been advertised in a local newspaper. This is the right time for the property owner (or manager) to start asking the right questions towards the qualification process.

Commercial or residential renters should be questioned about the following issues:

1. Name of prospective tenant
2. Telephone contact number
3. Date that the prospective tenant wishes to occupy property
4. Does the prospective renter have previous landlord references?

The landlord (or manager) should also inform the prospective tenant of the monthly rent, security deposit or other up-front charges (if applicable), as this often will end the need for further screening if the person can’t afford the rent being quoted.

If both parties are happy with the initial telephone interview, the prospective tenant will certainly like to go and see the property. This also gives the owner / manager with the opportunity to meet the prospective renter in person.

The Rental Application Form should include the following information:

1. Full name of applicant, social security number, date of birth and current address
2. Applicant’s addresses for the past 10 years
3. Landlords’ names for the past 10 years (if rented during such period)
4. Applicant’s trade / professional licenses (not required for residential space rentals)
5. Applicant’s current job and annual salary
6. Applicant’s job description or entrepreneurial occupation
7. Applicant’s past employment for past 5 years
8. Applicant’s highest level of academic education
9. Credit references and bankruptcy issues
10. Misdemeanor or felonies (criminal) records for prospective tenant
11. Full names for all occupants / co-renters
12. Two personal references, with full addresses and telephone numbers
13. Next-of-kin, i.e. name of a relative not living with tenant, with full address and telephone number
14. Driver’s license number and state of issue
15. Vehicle and license plate number

All such information provided by the prospective tenant should then be confirmed by the use of the database people search, here.

Past landlords and personal references are very important sources of information about the prospective tenant and his/her previous relationship with personal property. You can ask them for how long they’ve known the applicant and if they consider him/her reliable, their relationship with neighbors, any noise he/she (or pets) may have made that disturbed neighbors and whether the rented property was left in good condition, in the recent past.

If the applicant is self-employed / business owner, you should ask copies of the latest business banking statement and tax filings for the previous year. Then, you can also run a business background check, to confirm the prospective tenant’s credit worthiness.

The signed application should include a Release of Information Statement, which will enable you to check the tenant’s background for ascertaining if he/she has been truthful in answering all questions.

This last check is critical for determining the overall characteristics of a potential tenant. Furthermore, a comprehensive person background check will also determine his/her financial stability.

If a decision is made to deny rental, his/her application together with information gathered through the screening conducted here, at Investigations123.com must be disclosed to the prospective tenant as the reason for denial.

When searching the various databases available at Investigations123.com, keep in mind that earlier addresses, landlords, and roommates are often revealed in your Tenant Background Check search.

You can run a Background Check online now, by simply conducting a search in our vast network of Public Records and Proprietary Databases, here.  You’ll get top quality search results about your prospective tenants within minutes, via our 5-day risk-free trial.

A sample report for a Comprehensive Background Report is provided below.