In a previous post I wrote about the 4 critical steps you need to take when considering rental applicants. They are –
- Pre-screen your tenants by clearly communicating your residency standards
- Require complete applications, have each co-applicant complete their own individual application and collect an application fee
- Conduct a comprehensive background screening for every applicant and co-applicant 18 years or older that includes credit, criminal and eviction results
- Make sure the applicant’s ID is properly verified. Is the applicant who they say they are?
However, going through all the effort to properly screen an applicant is useless if you don’t pay attention to the results.
Here is a story from Tina who didn’t pay attentions to the screening report results.
“This new applicant was a nice guy and has a sweet dog, but I am never going to forgo the Tenant Magic approval again after what happened with my last tenant. I had her complete the application and go through the screening program, the recommendation was to refuse the applicant, and boy do I wish I had listened. What a worthless nightmare she turned out to be. Thanks for your help. We’ll see what he does.”
This a great example of being able to learn a valuable lesson from the (easily avoidable) mistake of someone else.