When screening tenants, it is important to have a list of criteria to determine if a person is going to be a good tenant. There are some legal reasons when a landlord can reject a tenant application. However, it is important to focus on adhering to the Fair Housing Laws. Here are some of the legal reasons when a tenant application can be rejected:
– Failure to meet income requirements
– Pets
– Smoking
– Criminal History
– Cannot verify income
– Credit report red flags (tenant refusing to have their credit report pulled)
– False information filled out on the application
– Bad credit score
The best ways to screen potential tenants is to start with a good rental application. The application needs to be the same for everyone that applies for the property in order to comply with Fair Housing Laws. The right tenant will fill out the rental application with the following information:
– Employment history including how often they are changing jobs
– Income level and verification
– Bank account information and credit history information showing if they meet monthly payments, or they are falling behind
– References that you are able to talk about, like their previous landlord
– Information about their lifestyle that may cause issues like pets, smoking, or the number of occupants
If a tenant is refusing to answer any of the application questions, landlords can reject the application. Tenants trying to hide something always try and avoid answering all of the questions. Pulling a credit report is one way to help identify some areas that might be concerning, and being able to bring them to a conversation with the prospective tenant.
Contacting the previous landlord is one of the best ways to screen rental applications. Many times a former landlord can provide information about the payment history of the tenant, how they behaved, what type of issues they dealt with when they rented, and more. As you can put together more of a complete history of the potential tenant, it will allow you to identify the best ones from others that may lead to serious problems.
Hiring a property management company to provide assistance with a number of things from tenant screening to rental payments. Keyrenter Property Management North Dallas, TX. Keyrenter provides residential property management services to landlords of single family homes, duplexes, condos, and small multifamily units. We are not large apartment managers. Our purpose is to help landlords maximize the return on their investment property while eliminating the stressors associated with being a landlord (including bad tenants and maintenance issues). Services we offer include: property analysis, setting rent, tenant placement, leasing services, maintenance coordination, tenant relations, property inspections, rent collection. We offer superior customer service. Because we know how to find quality tenants that can meet the terms of their lease agreement, using Keyrenter’s 14-point tenant screening process, our eviction rate is below 1%!