If you want to find the best tenant and rent your property, you’ll need to know how to screen and interview prospective tenants. Follow our tips on how to find the right tenant and get them through the process smoothly.
1. Follow the Law
There are some legal rules you have to follow when choosing your tenants, such as not discriminating against someone based on race or age. A much broader definition of this is what we called the “Federal Fair Housing Act”, which limits discriminatory practices related to the landlord, tenants and housing.
2. Select A Credit Worthy Renter
A good credit score is a landlord’s dream. It means you’re a low-risk tenant and that you’re likely to pay your rent on time and remember to do the little things, like keeping up with maintenance requests or fixing frayed wires in your apartment.
Checking a tenant’s finances consists of two steps:
- Verifying their Income
- You should ideally select a renter with a monthly income that is at least three times the monthly rent.
- Request copies of their pay stubs.
- Call their employer to validate their employment, length of service, attendance record, and monthly earnings.
- Run a Credit Check
- Is it their habit to pay their payments on time?
- Examine their debt-to-income ratio.
Even if their salary is three times the monthly rent, you must consider their debt.
For instance, suppose the rent is $1,000 per month. Tenant A earns $3000 per month but has $2400 in monthly debt obligations. Despite their monthly salary, this renter may have a more tough time affording the flat. Tenant B earns $2500 per month and has no debt. Even if their salary is not three months’ worth of lease, this renter may be an outstanding choice to pay the rent.
- Check for previous evictions, civil judgments, or bankruptcies.
Here are SkyLake Properties, we highly accept tenants with a 680 credit score benchmark as part of our criteria for choosing tenants.
3. Require A Criminal Background Record
Criminal information is open to the public and may be accessed in numerous courthouses. This investigation will uncover both significant and small violations. You need the tenant’s name and date of birth to run one. Keep in mind that persons with a criminal background may attempt to misrepresent this information, so check a genuine ID to ensure that they really are who they claim to be.
4. Examine the Tenant’s Rental History.
Before you rent to a tenant, check the person’s rent history. Your tenant might want to hide his past credit rating, which can be a red flag. If the applicant’s credit history has no public record of unpaid bills or eviction, you can trust that he is telling you the truth about his past payment habits and his ability to pay rent on time.
You can also reach out to their previous landlords to ask some questions:
- Is the tenant’s rent paid on time?
- What was the purpose of the relocation? Was the renter removed for failing to pay the rent or for violating the landlord’s rules?
- Did the renter provide 30 days’ notice before moving?
- How did they manage to maintain their apartment? Were they squeaky clean?
- Other than typical wear and tear, did they cause any harm to the apartment?
- Were they considerate of their neighbors?
- Did they whine a lot?
5. Select a Reliable Tenant
Examine the tenant’s previous residences and job history on their application form. Do they frequently relocate or change jobs? If they relocate frequently, this tendency is likely to continue, and you’ll soon have another vacancy on your hands. If they have not demonstrated steady work, they may be unable to finance the flat in three months, leaving you to restart your renter search or face eviction.
6. Trust Your Gut
You can screen all you want, but sometimes your instincts are the best judge of character. You may suspect that something is wrong with a renter who appears to be in good standing on paper. Later, it was discovered that the renter had applied for the apartment using someone else’s identity. Trust your screening, but don’t disregard your instincts.
