Should You Conduct Tenancy Background Checks?
A tenancy background check is a kind of screening done before the tenant moving into the property or before allotting the property for rent. This type of screening helps us to see the actual picture of the tenant which is behind the scene.
The reason for the rental background check is to foresee issues that might be hidden. It is a simple path to avoid troublesome tenants. Before allotting property, you need to think about whom you are allowing to stay in your building or community. It is a prime duty towards our society or community to choose the tenant who is not going to be problematic. On the other hand, the tenant having a criminal history is not a valid reason to deny renting a property to them. Landlords should verify each case history and then decide whether that tenant is safe for everyone or not.
By Checking the tenancy background, we gather much valuable information about the tenant. Not doing this background check will lead you to many unseen problems for which the only landlords will be responsible and for which they can be punished.
Besides, accepting and denying any allotment should be based on certain criteria like FAIR HOUSING LAW. We cannot deny any applicant based on status, sex, disability, religion, color, or origin. We are only allowed to deny any tenant based on their criminal record, but that also taking all the safety precautions, these criminal records also need to be verified by the landlords.
The landlord should always intimate tenants through their rental policies, about this screening process of the background check. This also creates a kind of secure environment for the tenant too.
How to do a Background Check
We can do this tenancy background check through the various source. Most of the data we can receive through credit bureaus like Transunion, Equifax, Experian credit information reports.
These data can give an overall sketch of, how responsible a tenant can be in future. Some landlords pay for overall credit report details. These three credit bureaus collect information from creditors like banks, credit card providers, or financial companies. They get the report through public records as well as legal records. Gathering information from different credit bureau gives a different perspective to check tenant's backgrounds.
Transunion scans multiple databases for the connection between identity information and criminal records. Search for criminal history is normally done by their identity information like name, date of birth, and address. Criminal courts typically don’t consider social security numbers on criminal records because criminal reports are public information to reduce identity fear.
Most of the landlords think that a background check is more important than a credit check. As we know the background check includes safety measures while a credit check is to know the financial responsibilities of the tenant. Though, both are significant neither of these two can be skipped for the beneficial outcome of a background check.
Proper background check is a challenging process for the landlords as this screening secure them from the future problem which may arise by choosing the wrong tenant for their property.
Conclusion
Apart from all the above points, it's also important for the landlords to check or verify all the documents provided by the applicant. Need to keep copies of all the documents and check them thoroughly. We also need to check whether the document belongs to the tenant or not. We can also ask for the contact details of previous landlord to check their background and behavior.
