Tenant Screening

One of the most important tasks of being a landlord is screening prospective tenants. Here is a list of questions we landlords should ask of previous landlords during the screening process:

1.       Confirm that the tenant is/was a current/prior tenant.

2.       Confirm the address of the current/prior rental unit.

3.       Confirm the dates that the applicant resided at the current/prior landlord’s property.

4.       Confirm the rent amount that the applicant is currently paying or paid in the past.

5.       Ask if the applicant has ever been late in paying their monthly rent?

o   If the answer is YES then you should follow up with these questions

§  How late was the rent paid?

§  Was the rent paid late more than once?

§  How many times was the rent paid late?

6.       Ask if the applicant has ever violated any other terms of the rent agreement (i.e. damage to property, loud parties, unauthorized guests, illegal activity, etc.)

7.       Ask if the landlord ever had to serve the applicant a 3-day or 10-day notice.

o   If the answer is YES then should attempt to learn additional information about the breach.

Finally, you should ask the landlord if s/he would ever rent to the applicant again