Tenant screening is, doubtless, one of the most important steps in rental property management, except, it’s pretty easy to make mistakes that could stir up financially extortionate problems and headaches afterward. Whether it’s letting personal biases influence decisions or leaving out essential parts of the background check, ignoring key steps in the screening process can induce major issues such as late payments, property damage, high turnover, and even legal complications.
The exciting news is that avoiding these mistakes can hugely help you attract high-quality tenants and keep your properties running smoothly. Here are some of the most common tenant screening mistakes and a few practical tips on how to keep away from them.
Mistake #1: Failing to Screen Consistently
Consistency is the indispensable key to effective tenant screening. A great part of consistency is making sure that you are putting to use the same criteria for every applicant rather than letting emotions or personal biases influence your decisions. There are numerous risks of failing to screen consistently and objectively, including missed opportunities for a great tenant and even potential discrimination lawsuits.
Legal action is both prolonged and financially wasteful, and a negative result all rental property owners should work actively to avoid. Many different state and federal laws prohibit discrimination in housing, and it is so important to understand how those laws apply to you and to always keep your screening process in compliance.
Mistake #2: Not Checking the Right References
Another top mistake during screening is failing to check the right references. As part of the application process, you should firmly ask prospective tenants for personal and professional references, on top of previous landlords. Employment history, financial references, and personal character references are all preferable types of references to ask for. After that, make sure to certainly contact all of these references and ask the right questions.
For instance, you could ask them how long they’ve known the applicant, their job performance, how well they care for their current living space, and any red flags they realized. Contingent with the type of reference, you should design your list of questions accordingly.
Mistake #3: Overlooking Credit and Background Checks
A third big mistake in tenant screening is failing to run credit and background checks on the applicant. Both assessments are certainly standard in rental markets nationwide, but, at the same time, many property owners and managers still miss this opportunity to learn valuable information about their renters.
Credit and background checks tell a clear story about a person and can help you identify possible red flags, as for instance prior evictions, criminal history, or financial difficulties. While not every negative item on a credit report or a background check is an automatic cause for disapproval of an application, these checks do bestow on you exactly what you need to make an informed decision about your next tenant.
Mistake #4: Ignoring Rental History
Possibly the most grievous mistake a rental property manager can make is not verifying the rental history for an applicant. Rental history is very important to verify for the reason that it can give you a deep understanding and insights into a renter’s likely future behavior.
When investigating rental history, make it a point to conscientiously watch for potential red flags, by way of illustration late payments, property damage, and other lease agreement violations. While your entire decision should not be established on a previous landlord’s report of a person, particularly if there were disagreements during the rental period, it can present rewarding insight into how the applicant will behave as a renter.
Mistake #5: Inadequate Communication with Applicants
One final thing to bear in mind, a last mistake rental property owners and managers make during the screening process is failing to communicate clearly and consistently with the applicant. Applying for a rental home can be a stressful experience for a renter, and frustration can clearly develop into bad feelings. Take into account that your renter’s experience typically begins with the first interaction with you and will continue throughout your association, however long that may be.
To foster a positive relationship with your tenant, have a successful beginning with transparency on your application requirements, timelines, and how your decision will be communicated. In this fashion, you can easily avoid misunderstandings that could frustrate or daunt applicants and result in negative reviews.
Get Your Screening Process Right!
By applying these tips and strategies, you can effortlessly avoid the top mistakes rental property owners and managers make during the screening process. This, in turn, can develop better tenant retention, fewer troubles, and even boost your reputation as a landlord.
Detailed tenant screening can be arduous and time-consuming. If you’d opt for leaving this task to professionals and properly enhance your tenant screening in Semmes, contact Real Property Management Azalea City (aka Instant Equity Mobile). Our terrific services include a streamlined screening process, observance of all housing laws, and much more! Contact us online or call 251-345-6224 for accomplished property management services.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
