The world wide web has made everything easier. Now, instead of digging through a bunch of information in person, you can do an online tenant check and find out everything you need to know, right from the comfort of your own home!

But before you hop online and do a tenant check, there are 3 things you need to know:

1. Oftentimes, the results are instant
You can’t afford to sit around and wait forever for tenant background checks. Luckily, some websites can get the information you need in just a few seconds!
Long gone are the days when a private investigator had to take weeks to go around and check up on your potential tenant in person. These days, an online tenant check can get all of your questions answered in just a couple of minutes.

2. It’s a little different from an employment background check

Before you start doing a ton of tenant background checks, you need to understand that they work a little differently from an employment background check. Oh sure, the actually searching part is the same. However, you have to treat the results differently.

For example, it may be against the law in your state to refuse to rent to someone just because they have a criminal record. Instead, their background has to be relevant to their housing situation — like if you discovered your tenant is a sex offender, and your house is across the street from an elementary school.

As long as you know what you can and can’t do with tenant background checks, feel free to take full advantage of them!

3. For a landlord, a credit report is like a crystal ball
Unfortunately, there’s no tell-tale way to figure out if a potential tenant is going to pay his rent on time every month. But if you’re a landlord, a credit report is as close to a crystal ball as you can get.

How so?

A potential tenant’s credit report will tell you just how seriously he takes his financial obligations. For example, if he takes forever to pay his bills, there’s no reason to believe that he’ll pay his rent on time. Or, if he has racked up a ton of debts, he might put all of his efforts towards paying them off — instead of making his rent a priority.
Conversely, a credit report can tell you if your potential tenant is responsible. If he doesn’t have a whole lot of debt (and the debt he does have gets paid off quickly), you can feel better handing him your keys.

Getting ready to rent out your property? The team at Tenant Screening Services LLC can tell you everything you need to know!