Anyone who has property for rent will benefit by taking the time to verify rental history for everyone that fills out a rental application. In the past, many home owners would rent to someone based on how they felt after talking to them for a little while. Today, landlords can't take the chance of renting to the wrong person and that's why they verify rental history for all applicants. It's simply too risky to take a chance when you think about the dangers that renting to the wrong person could create.
If someone has a criminal history or violent background you don't want them renting the property that you worked so hard to pay for. If they damage your home, you'll have to pay for the repairs. If someone in the neighborhood gets injured or even killed by a felon that you rented to, you'll feel responsible and if you rent to someone who has a history of not paying his or her bills, you may not get paid each month. On top of that, it'll cost you extra money to go through the process of evicting them and you can?t rent the property to anyone else until it's settled.
By simply verifying rental history for all potential renters, you won't have to worry about what type of person is living on your property; you'll have a good idea right from the start. You can tell a lot about a person based on their past actions. Using background checks is the best way to learn about a person's past because they reveal a lot of information about them. This information will help you make a good informed decision when choosing who you allow to rent your property to.
How to Verify Tenant Rental History
Learning how to verify rental history is not as difficult as you might think it would be. You can start by following a few simple rules. The first thing that you'll need to do is verify their identity by asking for a valid form of ID. Compare the address and name on the ID to the information they put on the rental application. If anything doesn't match be sure to inquire as to why and make note of this on the application.The best way to verify rental history is by contacting the current and the previous landlords the person rented from. They will be able to tell you how long they lived there, how well they took care of the property and why they had to leave. Many times when someone is evicted from one place for not paying the rent or for causing a disturbance, they won't put that on the rental application. There is no way for you to know this information unless you contact the previous landlords.
The next step would be to verify their employment and monthly income to make sure they will have the money to pay for the property they are trying to rent. You can also get a credit score to look for bankruptcy, repossessions, and unpaid credit card debt to get a better idea of how responsible they are when it comes to paying their bills on time. The last thing you need to look for is their criminal history. Be sure to get the written permission of the person before you run any background checks because it's illegal to do a search without their permission.
