Evicting a tenant is a great way to remove unruly tenants who refuse to pay their rent on time or cause other problems. While it's not ideal, an eviction is much better than letting them stay on your property and potentially lower its value. Even worse, they may put you at legal risk.
One way to avoid problematic tenants is through tenant screening. More specifically, you'll want to run an eviction check to see if they have had issues with previous landlords.
Here's why an eviction check is important and what to look out for.
What Is an Eviction Check?
Potential tenants can bring all kinds of baggage, which is why you'll want to run a rental history check. In particular, an eviction check looks to see if they've been evicted from a property. The only problem is that you won't be able to see why they were evicted.
You may also be able to see a person's rental history on their credit report.
While an eviction won't show up on the credit report, you can see unpaid rent or related fees that have been sent to collections. These red flags are visible for up to seven years from the date they were entered.
Why Eviction History Matters
Researching a potential tenant's history is just as important as inspecting your properties. They may look perfectly normal and healthy on the outside, but you never know what kind of secrets they're hiding.
In particular, eviction history shows that this person could not come to an agreement with their previous landlord. Their credit history and bank statements may show that they failed to pay rent on certain occasions. It may also be that they violated explicit rules in their lease.
Seeing eviction in their rental history may also open up a discussion with the individual. After all, circumstances change and this eviction could have happened years ago. It's all up to your property manager to decide how to proceed.
Other Items to Look For
When you screen a rental application, their eviction history is only one of many areas to look through.
The most obvious is to look for any recent criminal history or warrants for their arrest. You wouldn't want to rent to someone on the run, after all.
Next, find out their income status. Make sure they have a steady source of income. If they have outstanding debts, then that may mean missing rent at some point.
If you're having issues with your tenant screening, then it may be time to hire a property manager. They should know what to look for and the best ways to access the information.
Avoid Renting to a Bad Tenant
An eviction check is one of the most basic types of background history you can look into. While it won't always show you a tenant's true colors, it at least should open up a conversation. Get to know their situation better or choose to rent to a safer option.
PMI North Jersey offers property management services you can trust in the North Jersey area. Our services cover both residential management as well as home watch. Contact us to learn more and to schedule a consultation.
