Online Tenant Screening Service (eviction, renter, deposit, credit report)
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Which screening service do you use? I am trying to decide between E-renter and ATS. They are both BBB accredited. ATS offers access to the prospective tenant's full credit report history but I am not sure how that can work with the new laws. E-renter provides a rating score and it ranked #2. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I use MyScreeningReport.com It is consumer initiated, so they release a full copy (including credit) to the applicant, and the applicant then shares an authenticated copy of the report with me. Is great for me AND my applicant (who I usually have pay for their report). If the applicant doesn't qualify with me, they can actually share their report again with another landlord. A win win for everyone. I don't have to go through the tedious credentialling and set-up to get good information. They also provide eviction information and do criminal search on alias', which I found other companies do not do. Kinda scary!
I received two inquires yesterday. I was able to find out a lot by doing a name search. Some people actually use their full name in their e-mail address. I found out where they live and the number of occupants in their households. I also found out where the first one works and it listed her salary. That was a fluke because she works for a government agency. I sent her a preliminary questionnaire. She did not answer the question regarding her salary and she mentioned that her credit was fair but her household related expenses are paid timely. She even gave me the telephone number of her landlord. A person that does not disclose her salary has something to hide. The salary quoted online is from a couple of years ago and it was very low. I suspect??? I sent her another e-mail questioning what her salary is and the details regarding her credit. I have not heard from her yet. Aren't these legitimate questions? She also has three teenagers.
The second seems more promising. It appears she only has one child. Hopefully, I will get a response. They both provided telephone numbers but I do not want to speak on the phone until I get a sense of whether or not they can afford the property and will be a good fit.
Do any of you screen before you show the applicants the property? If so, what have you experienced?
If you want salary confirmation, simply ask for a job and salary cinfirmation letter from the perspective tenant's HR department or ask for a contact. Make sure it's a hard copy with an original signature with company letterhead (anyone can use photoshop to fudge things now a days) ... then follow-up with the company to verify.
In lieu of calling for salary, I ask applicants to provide last 2 month's of their bank statements (with all account info blacked out). If they have nothing to hide, you can clearly see a regular deposit into their accounts to verify what they get paid, but you will also get to see their spending habits. If they are spending close or more then how much money they bring in, that throws a red flag up for me as it means they may come to me one month and say they can't pay me.
I received two inquires yesterday. I was able to find out a lot by doing a name search. Some people actually use their full name in their e-mail address. I found out where they live and the number of occupants in their households. I also found out where the first one works and it listed her salary. That was a fluke because she works for a government agency. I sent her a preliminary questionnaire. She did not answer the question regarding her salary and she mentioned that her credit was fair but her household related expenses are paid timely. She even gave me the telephone number of her landlord. A person that does not disclose her salary has something to hide. The salary quoted online is from a couple of years ago and it was very low. I suspect??? I sent her another e-mail questioning what her salary is and the details regarding her credit. I have not heard from her yet. Aren't these legitimate questions? She also has three teenagers.
The second seems more promising. It appears she only has one child. Hopefully, I will get a response. They both provided telephone numbers but I do not want to speak on the phone until I get a sense of whether or not they can afford the property and will be a good fit.
Do any of you screen before you show the applicants the property? If so, what have you experienced?
If you found it on one of those data-gathering websites, they are horribly inaccurate. If you were to look me up, it shows me as still living with 2 stepbrothers I haven't seen in 15 years. It states my dad is almost 20 years older than his actual age. I can't remember what it put for salary but that was all wrong too. Don't bother using those personal info websites.
I wouldn't disclose my salary in an email to someone I'd never met, either.
If you want salary confirmation, simply ask for a job and salary cinfirmation letter from the perspective tenant's HR department or ask for a contact. Make sure it's a hard copy with an original signature with company letterhead (anyone can use photoshop to fudge things now a days) ... then follow-up with the company to verify.
In lieu of calling for salary, I ask applicants to provide last 2 month's of their bank statements (with all account info blacked out). If they have nothing to hide, you can clearly see a regular deposit into their accounts to verify what they get paid, but you will also get to see their spending habits. If they are spending close or more then how much money they bring in, that throws a red flag up for me as it means they may come to me one month and say they can't pay me.
I plan to do all of that but I want to know how much they make before they view the property. Do you do a preliminary search before showing the property? Do you think asking for 2 months of security is unreasonable?
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