Evicting tenants can be the most difficult task a landlord or property manager has to deal with in regards to renting an apartment. Depending on where the tenant lives the rules for eviction can differ remarkably. Some States are pro tenant and some states favor the landlord. However, one measure a landlord or property owner can take to mitigate the risks of leasing a unit is to pull an eviction record check on potential tenants before signing a lease. If a previous eviction is found than declining the applicant becomes easy. An eviction record is the single most important piece of information derived in the tenant screening process.
A previous eviction record is even a greater deal buster than bad credit. Some landlords, especially those renting out lower grade apartments like “C” level units are willing to work with potential tenants that have bad credit, but no landlord wants a tenant that has been previously evicted. The eviction process can be complicated, require a substantial amount of effort and can be costly. The costs can go even higher if a bad tenant causes significant damage to the apartment before being forced to leave.
Many landlords and property managers do not even check for previous evictions and get by with pulling just credit and criminal history. This is a big mistake as leasing to a previously evicted tenant implies a much greater risk of recidivism. The cost of an eviction check is usually around $20, a small amount when compared to the costs of a bad tenant.
For those landlords that do perform eviction checks, they should work with a professional third party tenant screening company to help them get the most current, complete and accurate eviction reports. Recently a woman moving to Washington State discovered she failed an evictions check even though she had never been legally evicted. When she applied for an apartment the tenant background check screening rejected her for having a landlord/tenant court record. Occasionally some landlords assume these type of records are in fact an eviction. However, in this case and in many others the woman was never evicted. These tenant/landlord court records may not reflect convictions and are often times resolved without any additional court action. In these cases a third party tenant screening company can assist landlords and property managers get and understand the results they receive so they don’t reject applicants based on court filings that never ended in conviction or eviction.
To learn more about the complexities of evictions and the important role they play in the tenant screening process read recent TenantScreeningUSA.com press release.