Scared Of Resident Screening? Find Out How Simple It Is

By Author: David Margolies
Total Articles: 1
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Most landlords know the value of resident screening - that it can preemptively eliminate tenant problems before they arise. However, not all of them know how to do it or see it as a daunting task. If you are one of them, don’t worry. This post will walk you through 5 easy steps to make everything simple for you.
Initial Contact
An inquiry from somebody interested in the property, whether it is by phone, email or in person, starts the tenant screening ball rolling. In this early stage, you already must be ready with a set of pre-qualifying questions to help you determine if you can proceed to the second step, where you will show the applicant around the property. If many show interest, it is not practical to show everyone who signify interest as it will cost you so much time. With your questions, you must be able to extract these basic details: name, contact number, number of people moving in and relationship to the applicant, reason for moving, occupancy date, intended rental term, if they have pets, if they smoke, if they have landlord reference, etc. Prepare a card where you can write all these details. Make ...
... sure to prepare a similar set of pre-screening questions for prospects who inquire by email in response to your online ad.
To further whittle down the people to show the property to, also inform the callers of your security and deposit requirements and other relevant details about the property that will give them an idea whether or not they qualify.
Tour Around the Property
As you move along to this next step, continue to look for signs of whether or not the prospect is the kind of tenant you would like to have. Consider how the would-be tenant looks, whether he or she is neat and clean or unkempt? This could be a clue as to how your property would look like if you have him or her as your tenant. Pay attention to how the prospect behaves, his or her manners and attitude. Is the candidate showing red flags that he or she could be difficult to deal with as a tenant? Simple behaviors like smoking or wiping his or her shoes on the doormat when entering the property tips the scales in or against his or her favor.
Application Process
Require the applicants to completely fill out the application form as their answers will help you further determine if they qualify. It is important that you do a tenant credit check to ensure that the applicant can afford to pay rent. Don’t forget to ask for a screening fee to cover the cost for this. This is stipulated in the LPA Rental Application. Once you are done thoroughly evaluating and verifying the application, you can go on to the next step.
Approval Process
Although you are already making a decision as to who to rent out your property, remember that you are not yet done with the tenant screening process. You may want them to feel good about their stay in your property so that they take good care of it and not vent out any resentments by neglecting the property. You can do this by telling them that they are your first choice among the applicants, or that you are giving them special consideration, like disregarding small credit neglect.
This is also the step where you schedule the time, date and place of the lease signing. Remind them to bring the necessary amount for the security and deposit, IDs (if you still don’t have it) and how you want them to pay you, whether in cash, money order or check. Inform them that they can have the keys as soon as their checks have cleared.
Signing of Lease Agreement
A lease agreement is your protection against possible future headaches. Make sure that you go over it with the tenant because the document may just end up unread. If they do not know what they have signed up for, they are bound to make some infractions, and you do not want such headache. Even if you are about to shake hands to seal the deal, note that the tenant screening process is still ongoing. Going over the items will give you the last clues if this is really the tenant you want to have. Take note of his or her arguments against the items stipulated in the agreement. Does the would-be tenant agree to a late charge, etc. If you notice that several items leave the two of you arguing, then this may be your cue to consider the next applicant on your list.