How to Find a Good Tenant

Becoming a landlord is a good way to make money and if you want to be successful, it’s very important to find reliable tenants.

So how do you conduct a credit check on your potential tenant?

According to Zillow, its a relatively easy process.

Getting Going

Property management companies use a prospective tenant’s application to pull a credit report directly from one of the credit reporting agencies. However, individual landlords generally cannot do that. But, don’t fret.

Look into online services that allow landlords to run credit checks.

Once you identify which service works best for you, you’ll normally open up an account and plug in the applicant’s email address into the system. The system will then email the applicant, who will verify the information and approve the release of his or her credit information to you.

It’s pretty easy and not to mention painless.

Know What you’re Looking For

The credit report data will show the applicant’s credit history, including their open and closed credit accounts, payments on those accounts as well as any late payments.

All of this information will give you a view into the prospective tenant’s financial history. But this is what you should be looking for:

Look for few, if any, late payments or charge-offs, low or no outstanding credit card balances and no bankruptcies or foreclosures. This shows that the applicant is financially responsible.

Additional Things to Consider

Don’t forget that a part from the rental credit check, you’ll also need to verify the applicant’s employment history, salary information and rental history. Also, don’t forget to contact their references.

This may sound like a lot of work, but it saves you a lot of anguish if you run into a problem tenant. It’s easier to do the work beforehand so you don’t have to hound someone to pay their rent.

Good luck!