Qualifying prospective tenants for your rental income property is a very important aspect of your investment. Nothing is worse than having to deal with a dead beat tenant; yes you can always evict them but who wants to go through the hassle or the expense. The eviction process is always a last resort as it can be costly and time consuming.
The best way to lower the possibility of having to evict a tenant is by having a proper application process in place. When qualifying a tenant for a property you should consider income, credit worthiness, employment, criminal history and eviction history. These five aspects of a tenant’s background will give you an excellent indication of the possibility of non-payment of rent. Keep in mind that you could never guarantee the ability or willingness of someone to pay rent; as there are numerous circumstances that could send someone into a financial downturn. However, from experience, I will state that a renter who checks out pretty well on an application yet finds themselves unable to pay rent will be more likely to either leave the property peacefully and forfeit a deposit or make proper arrangements to catch up than a tenant who scores poorly on a rental application.
As a landlord the first step is to market the property aggressively in order to attract as many prospective tenants as possible and it is imperative you apply a good application process and review all applications carefully. Also, be absolutely sure that as a landlord you are using the same process with all applicants; be absolutely sure not to discriminate against any protected class or violate any Equal Housing Laws. Property management companies
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