The government has legislated both federal and state anti-discrimination laws that put a check on landlords, and limit what they can say or do, while selecting tenants for their rental properties. When choosing tenants ensure you adhere to the best practices explained below.

1. Always, check income, credit history, including work, landlord, and personal references. These days running a credit check requires only a minimal fee. As well, it is important to check on tenant references by phoning them, especially, previous and present landlords. And, it is always a good idea to verify an applicant’s employment, income, including bank account information. You should always be consistent in your screening process, including making it a policy, to always ask every applicant for his / her credit report, and not just singling out single parents or people belonging to a specific nationality or ethnic group.
2. All decisions should be made, based on business reasons. Every landlord is legally free to choose from among prospective tenants, so long as their decisions are based on legitimate business criteria, and not personal reasons. Applicants with bad credit histories, insufficient income to pay the rent, or unruly past behaviour, such as, being consistently late in paying their rent, or holding loud and noisy parties, or causing costly property damage, can be safely rejected since all things combined make them a bad risk. And, it goes without saying that a landlord can legally refuse to rent to an applicant, who is unable to come up with the security deposit, or meet any other condition of the tenancy.
3. Acquire a through understanding of fair housing rules. Fair housing laws clearly specify the reasons that can be considered illegal, when refusing to rent to a tenant. Forty-two US Code 3601, 3619, 3631 of the Federal Fair Housing Acts, make it clear that it is prohibited to discriminate on grounds of race, religion, national origin, gender, age, family status, physical or mental disability (including recovering alcoholics and people with past drug addiction histories). There are certain states and cities that also make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of marital status or sexual orientation.
4. If, you are the owner of large rental properties like apartment complexes, then you must make it a point to train your staff to understand the Fair Housing rules, as well. All property owners, landlords, managers and real estate agents, including their employees, while dealing with prospective tenants must adhere to fair housing laws during the selection process. Property owners are and should be held legally responsible for their employees’ discriminatory statements or conduct, including sexual harassment.
5. Consistency is the key. Being consistent is of paramount importance and absolutely crucial when dealing with prospective tenants. If all tenants are not treated more or less equally i.e. tougher standards are set and used randomly, while renting to members of a racial minority. This way, you are not only violating federal laws, but opening yourself up to lawsuits. Lowering the security deposit amount for some people, but not for others, opens you to the risk of being slapped with charges of discrimination from other tenants.

Landlords are continuously being warned that they should screen prospective tenants before renting out to them. As well, they are advised to screen tenants, and one screening option available to them, is to obtain a prospective tenant’s credit report. However, the question arises, whether landlords or property managers have permission to pull a prospective tenant’s credit report?

Yes, most certainly, landlords or property managers are entitled to obtain credit reports for any prospective tenant. But, do remember, in case an applicant is turned down, as a result of negative information reported on a credit report, landlords should be procedurally correct by sending the applicant a letter advising him / her that his / her rental application has been turned down, apprising him / her of the following:

1. Why you rejected the applicant.
2. The name and address of the agency responsible for the negative information report, and
3. The applicant’s right to obtain a free copy of the report by requesting it from the agency within 60-days.

In order to run a credit check on the prospective tenant, his / her name, address, including Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) is necessary. Armed with this information, a credit report can be ordered from a credit reporting agency. In turn, the agency will get the report from any one of the three major national credit bureaus.

To find a credit reporting agency operating in your local area, one can go through the Yellow Pages listings, or surf the Internet.

A fair bit of advice for both landlords and tenants, do avoid expensive landlord / tenant litigation! Tenants should ensure all promises are put down in writing, and landlords can take necessary precautions, such as, screening tenants and conducting background checks on prospective tenants. A simple click of the mouse and any landlord or property manager can visit www.e-renter.com for tenant screening and background check services. www.e-renter.com, the best tenant screening agency in America! On the other hand, tenants can be on their best behaviour!

For a landlord, it is most important to screen and vet all rental applicants thoroughly, before allowing them to move into his / her rental property. Tenant screening is an excellent way to weed out possible problem tenants even before they have a chance to become a problem headache for you.

There are a number of different reference types, a landlord should request all rental applicants to provide. The type of references a landlord asks for is entirely up to him / her, but the following reference guidelines should prove helpful in assisting a landlord to find a suitable tenant for his / her property.

1. Previous Employers: A rental applicant should be asked to provide at least three references from past employers, specifically, if he / she skipped jobs, working for more than three employers in a given year. If a rental applicant has been through a series of jobs, all within a short span of time, it could be warning sign that he / she is unsuitable and won’t suit as the perfect tenant.You should ask rental applicants to provide addresses, contact information, former employer’s name and the person to be contacted. Applicants should also be asked to provide employment dates, including an explanation why they are no longer employed with their past employer.
2. Previous Rental History: Ask rental applicants to provide current addresses and phone numbers of past landlords to enable you to complete your follow-up efficiently. You could uncover tenant disputes with past landlords or any other problematic events in an applicant’s rental history.However, it is doubtful rental applicants will disclose contact information about their current landlord. If they are breaching their lease, planning to move out without informing their present landlord, they will not wish to provide you with this information.
3. Character References: Most rental application forms ask for three character references. These could be from former employers, friends or people your applicant feels comfortable listing. Character references give one pretty good idea of the kind of person one is dealing with.What you must remember though is applicants rarely provide references that do not portray them in a positive light. This issue can be overcome by asking for different types of references e.g. co-workers or supervisors, including friends and family members.
4. Emergency Contact Information: This bit of information is extremely important and comes in handy, in the event a tenant leaves without paying rent. With an emergency contact on record, you can call them for information on tracking down the absconding tenant.But, getting this information is just the first step, if you do not check it out; the information will not be worth the paper it is written on. In case, you cannot do all the necessary legwork, why hire a professional service with experience in performing reference and background checks. References though important, are just one aspect of a rental applicant’s history and should not be relied on solely. Run a credit or background check for a comprehensive applicant profile, using this information to base your final decision on.

Selecting the right tenant for your property will not only reassure you that your property is in good hands, you will also ensure tenants remain with you for many years to come. Further, getting relevant information on rental application forms assists you in screening prospective tenants, tenants who will respect, maintain and limit property damage to only wear and tear. For help in suitable tenant selection, visit www.e-renter.com for tenant screening and background check services, the best and only way to prevent expensive litigation, penalty charges or property damage.

If not a common practice, landlords should make it so, to approve prospective tenants only after checking and verifying their credit report and references. Tenant screening alerts one to potential problems before signing of the lease, greatly reducing the risk of entrusting a rental property to problem tenants.

However, before a credit report can be obtained, landlords need to have prospective tenant applicants complete a written application, which should provide all relevant information, such as, name, social security number, etc. required for running credit reports.

But, obtaining the necessary information is not enough, written permission from the applicant to perform a credit check is needed, as well. This could be a clause in the application form or a separate form authorising the landlord to run a credit check, which the applicant will have to sign before a landlord can go ahead and obtain a credit report.

If a landlord has a large number of applicants for his / her rental property, credit checks can prove to be fairly expensive. Therefore, a landlord can request a prospective tenant to cover the cost. It helps to know beforehand the type of credit report needed, including the agency charges for providing it, so as to be able to request the correct amount from the applicants.

There are many agencies in the business of providing credit checks and other screening services, and while some require a membership fee, there are others who charge only for each report. A landlord of a large rental complex, who has many applicants, would be better of registering as a member of one of these agencies, such as, www.e-renter.com, saving more money due to bulk discounts members are offered.

www.e-renter.com offers many different kinds of services from credit reports, criminal records, evictions records, FCRA compliant declination letters, online submission to collections, automated decision-making, and how to accept a web based application from your own site. With online access to www.e-renter.com, landlords can order and review reports in seconds.

There are no monthly fees, no minimum billing amounts and no annual fees at www.e-renter.com, one only pays for reports ordered, from consumer credit reports, criminal record searches, eviction histories, ID verifications, business credit reports, etc., including allowing members to generate FCRA compliant declination letters, do online submissions to a collections agency, accept web based rental applications, use decision tables to qualify applicants, and more. Credit reports complete with FICO scores, known credit patterns, employment histories, in addition to the usual information on liens, account balances, and pending judgments are all available at www.e-renter.com.

Utilising the services of a screening agency helps reduce the time a landlord would have to spend on checking prospective tenant backgrounds, clearing more time for applicant processing and property management.

On a cautionary note, applicants should not be judged solely on the basis of their credit reports. Credit reports while providing valuable insights, do not give the whole picture, as there is no one, who has never run into a rough patch in their life.

Visit www.e-renter.com for tenant screening and background check services.

For a rental property owner, it is never easy to sit back and take it easy with it lying vacant, instead of bringing in a steady monthly income. So getting it rented out is your first priority. But, if only one were lucky enough to get ideal tenants, tenants who treat your property as their own, always pay rent on time and don’t distrurb the neighbors. That is why it is necessary for landlords to screen tenants before renting out property. Five easy steps to getting a properly qualified tenant are as follows:

1. Step 1 –
   • Name,
   • Phone No.,
   • Reason for moving,
   • Number of people who will be calling your property home,
   • When they would like to move in,
   • Pets if any,
   • Last but not least, ask them to provide previous landlord references.

First contact with a tenant, whether you are a landlord, real estate agent or property anager is usually by phone. This is when you can begin screening your would be tenant by asking the right qualifying questions before proceeding to the next step. Give all information such as rent, security deposit requirements over the phone and then proceed to asking getting answers to the following important questions:Get answers to all these questions over the phone, and proceed to qualify or disqualify prospective tenants if they have trouble giving you the requested information. If serious, they will wish to make a good impression, eagerly answering your questions. This process can save you and customers a lot of time and trouble.

2. Step 2 – When showing them around the property, it is essential to watch for certain telltale signs while evaluating prospective new tenants.
   1. Appearance – Check their appearance, whether he / she is neat and clean, whether he / she made an attempt to make a good impression? You can be certain, in most cases; an unkempt person’s home will mirror his appearance, as will his / her lifestyle.
   2. Car – Ditto with the car. Check if the car is nice, clean, and well maintained?
   3. Attitude & Manners – Study attitude and manners, e.g. did he / she wipe their feet before stepping into the house or did they walk in smoking a cigarette. One can learn a lot from the attitude and manners of people, gauging from them whether they will be difficult to deal with in the future?
   4. Criticizing the property – try and determine whether criticisms about your property are legitimate concerns, or merely issues raised to try to negotiate the rent?
   5. Yes or No – whether the prospect is decisive enough to make a decision or has to think about it? If they want your rental, they will have come prepared with a deposit and have all information on hand to fill out a rental application form?
3. Step 3 – Once the applicant has filled out the application form, let him / her know their application will be considered along with the others, and they will be notified once a decision has been arrived at. Advise the applicant(s) the importance of filling out the application as completely, as possible.And, if you intend to run a credit report on the applicant, that is recommended, you can collect a screening fee from your prospective tenant. Surprised, don’t be! There is a provision for this in most rental applications. That is one of the reasons, why you must ensure your rental application forms are quality ones, and not just any rag tag thing that has been quickly run up. Ask prospective tenants to return completed applications as soon as possible to avoid losing the rental to competing prospects. Review and verify the application forms thoroughly, looking for inconsistencies and ‘red flags’, and only when you are completely satisfied, then and then only proceed to the next step.
4. Step 4 – Once, you have approved an applicant as a prospective tenant, let them know you are prepared to take them on, along with any special concessions you made just for them, such as overlooking minor credit infractions, etc. etc. This process is also an opportunity for you to make sure the applicant can and will deliver. Set the time, date and place for your lease signing. Instruct the applicant(s) to bring the appropriate amount, identification (if you don’t already have it), and how you prefer to be paid, by cheque, money order or cash. Remember to tell new tenants, possession or keys will be given only after all cheques have been cleared.
5. Step 5 – As recommended before, ensure you have a quality residential lease. As a rule, people mostly sign a lease without reading them carefully. It would be a good idea to go over the entire lease with tenants at a lease signing. Reading lease terms along with the tenants, allows you to conduct your fifth and final step of screening by keeping a lookout for any arguments the prospective tenant may have, such as the issue of a late charge for late rental payment, and so on. If you are unhappy with how your prospective tenant responds to the lease, you are advised not to take him / her as your tenants.

Bide your time till a suitable applicant comes along! Better no tenant at all than to be stuck with a bad tenant!