Tenant screening is certainly one of the most important steps in rental property management, however, it’s rather easy to make mistakes that could cause exorbitant complications after a while. Whether it’s letting personal biases influence decisions or skipping essential parts of the background check, failing to observe key steps in the screening process can instigate major issues such as late payments, property damage, high turnover, and even legal complications.
The excellent news is that avoiding these mistakes can immensely help you attract high-quality tenants and keep your properties running smoothly. Here are some of the most common tenant screening mistakes and a number of practical tips on how to ward them off.
Mistake #1: Failing to Screen Consistently
Consistency is the critical key to effective tenant screening. A significant part of consistency is ensuring that you are conforming to and using the same criteria for every applicant rather than letting emotions or personal biases influence your decisions. There are a number of risks of failing to screen consistently and objectively, comprising missed opportunities for a great tenant and even potential discrimination lawsuits.
Legal action is both time-consumingly prolonged and quite expensive and a particular result all rental property owners should work actively to avoid. Many state and federal laws prohibit discrimination in housing, and it is imperative to understand how those laws apply to you and to 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 ask prospective tenants for personal and professional references as well as previous landlords. Employment history, financial references, and personal character references are all the right types of references to require. After that, secure to certainly contact all of these references and ask the right questions.
As 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 knew of. Largely depending upon the type of reference, you should personalize your list of questions properly.
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 commonly standard in rental markets nationwide, except plenty of property owners and managers still miss this opportunity to learn valuable information about their renters.
Credit and background checks tell a clear story regarding a person and can help you identify possible red flags, in particular 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 denial of an application, these checks do grant you what you need to make an informed decision about your next tenant.
Mistake #4: Ignoring Rental History
Most likely the greatest mistake a rental property manager can make is not verifying the rental history for an applicant. Rental history is imperative to carefully probe into due to the fact that it can give you helpful details into a renter’s likely future behavior.
When studying rental history, carefully give importance to watch out for potential red flags like late payments, property damage, and other lease agreement violations. While your entire decision should not be based upon a previous landlord’s report of a person, more particularly if there were disagreements during the rental period, it can bestow pertinent insight into how the applicant will behave as a renter.
Mistake #5: Inadequate Communication with Applicants
One final thing, 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 totally develop into bad feelings. Always remember that your renter’s experience really starts with the first interaction with you and will continue throughout your association, no matter how long that may be.
To foster a positive relationship with your tenant, make a good start with transparency on your application requirements, timelines, and how your decision will be communicated. In this manner, you can avoid misunderstandings that could frustrate or scare off applicants and result in negative reviews.
Get Your Screening Process Right!
By adhering to these tips and strategies, you can properly avoid the top mistakes rental property owners and managers make during the screening process. This, in turn, can bring on better tenant retention, fewer issues, and even boost your reputation as a landlord.
Applicable tenant screening can be arduously time-consuming. If you’d elect to leave this task to professionals and develop your tenant screening in Davis County, contact Real Property Management Northern Utah. Our fine services comprise a streamlined screening process, observance of all housing laws, and much more! Contact us online or call 801-546-1770 for capable 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.
