You can never be too careful these days and that’s why many landlords are taking extra precautions by running at least a credit check on a prospective tenant before handing over the keys.
Many landlords are unsure how they can go about running a credit check. It’s quite simple, really.
If you’re a CHBO member, simply login to your MyCHBO account. Click on the “Rental Tools” link and then the “Credit Checks” link. It will take you to a website called My Smart Move. You can watch the training video on the page to learn more about how the process works.
In a nutshell, all you need to do is set up an account with My Smart Move. Once you do, then you’ll need to ask your prospective renter to visit the site and enter their social security number and other information. Your tenants will like that they don’t have to give you this personal information directly. My Smart Move will then send you the credit report without revealing the tenants social security number. You’ll get insight into their credit history and be able to make a better judgment as to what kind of renter they will be.
Remember, a simple credit check usually runs about $20 and is a small price to pay to protect your rental investment. Build that fee into your rental rate and it’ll be no skin off your back to do each and every time!
I’ve been a corporate housing landlord for five years now and credit and background checks were always kind of a hassle. I used the SmartMove service for the first time last week for a prospective tenant and I’m very happy with the results. The site is very easy to use, it was very easy to set up an account, requesting a credit check is a very simple procedure, the tenant had no issues with it whatsoever, the report came back immediately (after the tenant logged in and gave the required info), and it even gave me a recommendation for the prospect based on the criteria I entered and the tenant’s score. I plan to use this service from now on every time I rent.
Thanks!
I had the renter from hell. Met him and his girlfriend at the unit and they wanted to move in immediately (should have been the first clue that something was amiss). However, he was from Cleveland and knew the family of old friends of mine and he provided enough information for me to know this was true. He was articulate and did have a job in sales. He gave me a check for the deposit and first month’s rent and after the first month no more money. A series of bad checks and 1,000 excuses. I actually wrote them down because I couldn’t believe some of them. The short of it is I finally got him out but he walked away owing me $3,000. I subsequently discovered he was writing bad checks all over town.
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I have found that a credit check simply just isn’t enough. I used a site called MyScreeningReport.com because they provide credit, criminal AND EVICTION info. As a landlord, eviction information is especially important to me….especially in case there was an address they didn’t disclose to me on the application.