With more and more renters entering the market, individual landlords are finding they can’t just rely on the word a prospective renter gives them. Because of this growing trend, landlords must be prepared to run a comprehensive tenant screening report. Every tenant screening report should include an eviction history search. If a tenant has been evicted or forcibly removed from a rental property there is a greater chance this will happen again. Some things to consider:
- Evictions are costly – really costly. With fewer cases ending with a cash judgment, why not save the stress, hassle and money and don’t rent to those who have recently been evicted.
- They won’t tell you they were evicted. They also won’t list the landlord responsible on their application. Without including an eviction search in your tenant screening report how else would you know they were ever evicted.
- If it’s happened once, it will probably happen again. It usually takes multiple month of non-payment before a landlord will look to evict someone. This is one hard habit to break – no one likes a chronic late payer.
Quality tenant screening is a must! Leaving an empty unit is sometimes better than renting to someone with a history you’re not fully aware of. Protect your assets – run a comprehensive screening report with each and every applicant.