What is Tenant Screening? Lethbridge Property Management Education

When you’re a landlord, knowing how to find good tenants is critical. Today, we’re telling you how to find a tenant and why it’s important. We screen tenants every year. If you find a great tenant, you’re off to the races, and you’ll have a great experience as a landlord. But with a bad tenant, you will likely face evictions, property damage, late or unpaid rent, and a host of other problems. Here are our top tips on how to avoid bad tenants.

Past Rental References

Every interested tenant should apply through your thorough and consistent application process. That should include checking past rental references. Find out if these potential tenants have rented before or if they owned their own home. If they have rented previously or they are currently renting, contact their current landlord and ask how they were with paying rent, and whether they were late. Find out if any property damage was left behind and if a full move out inspection was completed. You’ll want to ask if the full security deposit was returned to those tenants. Then, contact the landlord who came before that one. With the current landlord, they might be willing to tell you what you want to hear, especially if it’s a problem tenant and they just want to get rid of the person. The landlord before that will not care because the problem tenant is long gone. So, check the previous two rental references.

Employment and Income Verification

Check employment as well, by calling the tenant’s employer and verifying that they work where they say they work. Ask if it’s full time employment and find out how much they earn per month. Ask for pay stubs to document that income. We check for these things with every person we manage. You need to make sure you’re abiding by the Alberta Landlord Tenant Act and not discriminating. That can get you into trouble, so be consistent and fair with every application.

If you have any questions about how to find a tenant, tenant screening, or anything pertaining to Lethbridge property management, please contact us at Clear View Property Management.