Getting a tenant for an unoccupied apartment is definitely a good idea. Besides getting enough cash to cover maintenance expenses for the place, the rent can also add to the family’s income. There are three principal types of screening that must be done by the landlord (or lady) before renting the property.

Financial screening: Before the dotted lines are signed, it is of utmost importance to find out the prospective tenant’s economic status. Thorough credit checks must be performed. If the tenant has a history of evading debt repayment, or has fallen into repeated bad debts, chances are he/she won’t be able to pay up on time. The person must also have a permanent job with adequate salary to cover the rent after considering basic expenses. If he/she is in business, it is important to know the average profit made on a monthly basis. Learning the nature of the business is essential.

Identity check: It is important to determine that the identity the person is putting forward is correct. Photo-IDs are good ways of doing this. Driving licenses, Social Security cards, or any other acceptable ID proof should be checked and verified. It is essential to find out where the person lived before, and doing a background check. If the person rented an apartment somewhere else before, it is important to do a background check in that area. A person’s criminal record must also be checked. A speeding ticket received 5 years ago should not matter, but a drunken assault warrant at any point of time is unacceptable.

Personal observation: The appearance and the way a prospective tenant carries himself/herself speaks a lot about that person. For instance, if a person is fidgeting constantly, chances are high that he/she is hiding something. Also, if the person is constantly trying to evade questions about his/her background, there can be two reasons. He/she could be really shy about discussing his/her personal life, or there might be a black spot in his/her past. But since there is no easy way of determining the true reason, this kind of attitude should be noted as disturbing.

Getting a tenant is a great idea to keep an unoccupied apartment in good shape, while earning some cash to boot. Moreover, screening of prospective tenants is important before signing the agreement because this would ensure safety of the landlord/landlady and also form the first step towards a long and mutually profitable relationship.

Property owners sometimes face serious problems caused by their tenants. The most common problems are due to the tenants defaulting on rents or making damage to the property and not paying for the damages. It is important to note that rent collection is the only source of income for a property owner. It is the only investment that property owner has.

Landlords are stuck with problematic tenants when they give their property to tenants that are referred by their friends or relatives. Property owners must not accept any tenant mere on the basis of referral, they must check out tenant credit report for detailed analysis on personal information, history of forced evictions faced by your potential tenant. Tenant screening on potential tenant will give you information on tenant’s financial capabilities, previous employer information and information of previous landlord.

One of the best ways to perform tenant screening is to outsource this job to any elite agency that offers adequate services to property owners. These agencies will perform in dept analysis on tenant’s background. They also check out criminal records if any and allow you to access this detailed tenant screening report.

However, it is important to note that certain tenants are very cunning, as they can sue you if you disqualify them. The most common allegation on landlords is the racial allegation. To avoid getting in such a messy situation is to ask your potential tenant to fill tenant rental agreement.

You can customize your tenant rental agreement by incorporating certain important terms like: no tenant will be disqualified on the basis of color, race, marital status, and age. By asking your tenant to sign this tenant agreement you ensure that you mean business. You can also ask him to pay non refundable fees to perform tenant screening.

Based on tenant screening report you can analyze how realizable your tenant can be. This will help you to select a tenant fit for your property.