If your Salt Lake City property investment is going to be successful, you need to have good tenants.
Around 1 million tenants are evicted every year in America. The eviction process can be a long, costly, and complicated one. Fortunately, it can all be avoided by doing your due diligence with all of your applicants through tenant screening.
In this post, we're going to discuss the importance of a tenant background check for screening. You need to get as much information as possible to ensure you're not letting someone dangerous or irresponsible in your rental. Keep reading and learn how different types of background checks can do that.
A Tenant Background Check Keeps Tenants and Property Safe
When you perform a criminal background check on your applicants, you learn whether or not they have a criminal history. While denying an applicant because of minor infractions from their past is never appropriate, it's good to know if they've had severe convictions that might put your other tenants at risk.
Your current tenants should never feel unsafe in your rental. If you want to maintain a good reputation as a landlord and keep good tenants around, use a criminal background check to make sure all applicants are properly vetted.
Performing background checks also protects your investment. If they've ever damaged property before, a criminal check will unearth that information. You can glean even more info by contacting past landlords to find out about any undesirable behavior.
Getting Paid
A tenant background check will also let you know important financial information about an applicant. If they've got a bad credit or employment history, there's a greater chance that they'll have trouble paying rent on time.
Everyone goes through difficult periods financially. You should always offer a grace period for rent payments for this reason. It's when there's a track record of financial irresponsibility that you're going to be inconvenienced.
Better Retention
Good tenant screening boosts tenant retention in multiple ways. For one, quality tenants tend to stay put longer. A respectful tenant-landlord relationship always makes life easier for both parties.
The other thing to consider is your other tenants. If you let bad tenants into your rental units, you run the risk of driving your other tenants away.
At the end of the day, if you want to avoid the eviction process, you need to perform background checks. Evictions aren't just stressful, but they can be expensive and drawn out, especially if the tenant decides to fight it.
Putting Your Mind at Ease
Taking the time to perform a tenant background check on every applicant that you have is going to put your mind at ease. Being a landlord can be difficult work, but making sure you have quality tenants in your rentals can really lessen the load.
Another thing that can make your life easier is hiring a property manager. At Utah Property Services, we can make sure every tenant is vetted, but our services also include everything from property advertising to rent collection and maintenance.
If you want to enjoy all of the perks of owning a rental property without any of the hassles, contact us to find out how we can help.
