Tenant Screening Tips For Park City Property Management
In order to be successful in Park City property management you need to attract and place quality tenants into your Park City long term rentals. Finding the right tenant can keep you clear of a host of problems, from property damage and nuisance complaints to criminal behavior and evictions. Doing the leg work up front will go a long way towards ensuring you have good tenants who will take care of your property. One thing you can do to help ensure your investment property is well taken care of is to hire a Park City property management company. If you would like some more information take a look at my post "The Value of a Park City Property Management Company" or give us a call to talk about our services. But right now let's dive into some tenant screening tips that will help you filter out problem tenants.
You should have an application that requires prospective tenants to submit verifiable information about their rental and work history as well as a Social Security number and date of birth. The application I use also asks for bank account information which can be useful in the event of a collection. The application asks directly if the person has been arrested, filed bankruptcy or had an eviction order filed against them.
- Run A Criminal Background And Credit Check
Use the information you obtained on the application to run a credit and criminal background check. This will help you in several areas. It will allow you to verify whether there is any criminal history, give an indication of how likely a person is to pay their bills, and it can protect you against fraudulent use of a Social Security number. While all of these steps are important this one is a must for Park City property management. Charge to the potential tenant a small fee to process an application and you can cover the cost of running a background check.
Call previous landlords and current employers. Past performance is an accurate predictor of future performance. One of the best questions you can ask a previous landlord, besides "Why are they moving" is "Would you rent to them again?" If the answer is no you should ask for some more explanation. This shouldn't necessarily disqualify a person but you want to make an educated decision. In checking references I have run across prospective tenants that were not recommended by their current landlord. And based on the results of these conversations I have rented to some of them.
- Apply The Same Process To Every Prospect
Using the same process each time provides a few benefits for Park City property management. First it can keep you from running afoul of Fair Housing laws. If a person who fits into a protected class is treated differently than everyone else you are discriminating and this can be a costly mistake. Another benefit is repeatable results. If every tenant who applies is treated differently then you will have inconsistent results in your screening.
If you would like more information on how to screen tenants, or further information about Park City property management in general click the link below for a free consultation. You will receive valuable information specific to your property that will help you make an informed decision. You will also receive a free, no-obligation quote on our property management services. At CC Realty we specialize in making investment property ownership a trouble free experience. Please contact us today for your free consultation.
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