Existing tenants in rental property that is being considered for purchase can be either assets or liabilities. The most obvious benefit is having no rent-up time for any units that are currently leased. A related secondary benefit is that obtaining financing may be easier because the lender knows what the true rental income is for […]

Question The applicant I had selected for my vacant rental house just told me, prior to our final walk-though inspection in two days, that he has had unexpected problems coming up with the full amount of security deposit and first month’s rent that we had agreed on in the already executed lease agreement. What are […]

*   *   *   *   *   * Question I am concerned about how many keys a tenant who is currently being evicted may have made and passed out to others during his tenancy. Would I have liability related to this issue? Answer It is highly recommended that locks be re-keyed between each tenant. When a tenant departs, the […]

*   *   *   *   *   * Question I own a property that I suspect might have contamination problems. Are there any issues related to willing this property to my son? Answer Landlords who own property that may have risks of environmental contamination should use care when passing the property to a beneficiary of his/her will […]

Checking References As a best business practice, checking applicant references should be considered one of the essential tenant screenings. Interviewing previous landlords and personal references are screenings that can be performed fairly easily and with minimal expense by a landlord.  The information obtained through reference checking complements the information obtained from identity verification, employment verification, […]

The Choice is Yours Most landlords agree that credit reports provide a wealth of valuable information about an applicant. Although other sources can be used to verify some of the information supplied by the applicant in his personal interview, on his application, or identification documents, a credit report is the most complete compilation of data […]

Tenant Screening Products for Every Business Model Whether you’re the hands-on type of landlord or prefer to contract out property management, you owe it to your business to routinely review what new services and products are available to investors and managers of rental property. Periodic review of your operational procedures is always a good idea. […]

Co-Signers & Guarantors Based upon a greater perceived risk, you may offer conditional acceptance to an applicant by requiring the applicant to provide a co-signer or guarantor. The terms co-signer and guarantor are often used interchangeably and they can mean the same thing. However, there can be a significant difference between a co-signer and a […]

Pre-Leasing Some landlords like to minimize downtime of units by “pre-leasing.” Although at first thought this might seem like a good idea because it can theoretically reduce the period for which no rent is being paid, it sometimes creates enough trouble to more than make up for the times when it was advantageous. By the […]

Consumer Reports and Adverse Action Notices Tenant screening is a process of investigation, analysis, and selection/rejection of rental applicants. Not everyone can be your next tenant and not everyone should be your next tenant. Your decision to accept or reject an application will be based upon information you obtain from various sources and by qualification […]