In order to find and accept great tenants, you need to properly screen them. Today, we’re talking about tenant screening and how we manage the process at Above Property Management.
How to Find Good Tenants: Screening All Applicants
First, you need to screen anyone who is 18 years of age or older. So, if you have a family of four that is applying and there’s one adult child who is 18 or 19 years old, that individual will need to fill out an application as well. We verify the driver’s licenses of all adults, and make copies for the file.
Checking Employment and Income
The next part of our screening process is employment verification. We call the applicant’s employer and verify where they work and how long they have worked there. Income is also critical. To make sure tenants can pay rent on time, you want the combined income to be at least three times the amount of rent. This is an important measure when you’re qualifying tenants.
Criminal and Credit Checks
Run a credit check and look for things like a history of non-payments. If they are able to pay their bills on time, they will probably be reliable with their rental payments. We rate the credit score and run a criminal background check. Mainly, we are looking for felonies and checking how long ago any criminal incidents happened.
Landlord References and Rental History
We call previous landlords and verify whether the applicant lived in the property. We also ask if rent was paid on time and if there were any lease violations. We interview all prospective tenants and potentially, we will visit where they currently live.
With all the data we collect, we rate applicants on each requirement and evaluate their score. Then, we will accept or decline them.
Those are the basics of tenant screening. If you have any questions about how to find tenants, or you need help with property management in Greenville, please contact us at Above Property Management.
