Certainly, no San Diego Property Management Company or landlord would settle for undesirable tenants. One way to ensure that you get the best tenants for your San Diego rental is to have a solid screening process in place. If you are unsure of where to start or what to screen, these tips might help you.
1. Check what the law says
Having a screening procedure and a set of standards for tenants does not mean you are exempt from following the Federal Fair Housing Act. To summarize, this law means you are not supposed to discriminate based on disability, race or color, familial status, sex, religion, and national origin. Be careful with setting your standards as you don’t want to get in trouble with the law.
2. Have applicants sign an application form
It is important to prepare a form that asks about the applicant’s basic biographical information, employment history, rental history, vehicle information, references and other details you may need to verify. If you are working with a San Diego property manager, you can take this task off of your shoulders.
3. Go over their credit history and credit score
It might be rare that you find a prospective tenant who has exemplary credit records. The goal of checking is not to grant the approval only to those with good credit scores, although that would be ideal. What you need to have is a limit, a set allowable bar. After all, you wouldn’t want to lose a good tenant just because you were so strict with a single measurement.
4. Find out about their tenancy history
Sometimes, the rental history speaks so much more than all the other documents you would ask. Knowing how tenants treated their previous homes and hearing straight from a previous landlord how good they were as tenants are very valuable qualitative information. Talk to previous landlords and make that a necessary part of your screening.
5. Check for criminal records
Although some states, including California, prohibit discrimination based on certain criminal records, a landlord should still find time to check these things. Often you will only need their names and birthdays. And, since these are public records, it is okay to check them. However, you have to be careful with using this as grounds for not accepting a tenant. In any case, an San Diego Property Manager should be able to help you with this very time consuming task.
6. Make sure they have a stable source of income
Employment history and their current employment information are your main data points. Many use this equation as an indicator for rent payment viability: their monthly income should be three times their monthly rent. Having a direct contact person in the employer’s side can help make this task a lot easier.
Bottom line:
Avoid granting approvals without screening tenants’ applications first. Your business will be greatly affected by your tenants so taking the time to choose is very important. Follow these tips and ask for a San Diego property manager’s expert help to get you started.