Be Wary Of These Issues When Conducting Background Checks On Prospective Residents

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One of the roles that you'll often handle when working in residential property management is reviewing the applications submitted by prospective residents. In this job, you'll perform background checks that will provide details about each prospective resident that may not have been shared when he or she met with you to discuss vacancies in your building. There are a number of things that these background checks can uncover that can make you wary. It's typically a good idea to turn down the application of someone if these things come up in the background check.

Past Eviction

It's never a good sign if someone applying to live in the building that you manage has a past eviction that comes up in the background check. Most people can successfully rent a place to live without ever being evicted, and an eviction often shows that the person could not change his or her behavior after several warnings, or perhaps that he or she ignored the clear rules of the building outright. It's a good idea to turn down an applicant who has a past eviction as a way of saving you potential headaches — and maybe even having to go through the process of evicting the person again.

Contact With A Collections Agency

Someone who has had contact with a collections agency can be a risky person to have live in your building. Although some people who fall on hard times will get taken to collections, others find themselves in this situation because of a disinterest in paying their bills or an inability to do so. This can be a concern for you — it could suggest that someone will not pay his or her rent in the allotted time, leaving you in a constant battle with the person to get what is owed to you in a timely manner each month.

Criminal Record

When an applicant's criminal record turns up during your background check, it's a cause for concern for many different reasons. It's not necessarily that someone who has brushes with the law is a poor tenant, but there can be a number of things that go wrong. For example, if the person is a suspect in an investigation, the police could break down his or her door, requiring you to have the door repaired. Or, if the person were to be arrested and go to jail, you may need to take the time and effort to empty his or her unit. Finally, people with criminal records may make the building unsafe, which is something you don't want for your law-abiding residents.

For more information, contact a business such as Shook & Tarlton Rentals.


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