REAL WORLD BACKGROUND SCREENING FOR PROPERTY MANAGERS

The Risk of Renting are No Longer Just Financial (Will they pay or not?)
You may not be able to rule out all potentially problematic tenants, but a simple background check can give you a lot of information about any criminal activity or other skeletons an applicant might have in his/her closet.

5 Common Tenant Screening Mistakes
Avoid the following mistakes and you won’t have to worry about problem tenants:

1. Not doing a background screening at all. - Even if you've got a great eye for people, it's always good to get the peace of mind of running a background check.
2. Assuming that checking on employment is enough. - People in all walks of life commit crimes and create problems for their landlords.
3. Checking only references from previous landlords. - Previous landlords may not have run a background check.
4. Assuming a credit report is enough. - Checking credit history is a good idea, but a background screen will reveal even more.
5. Background screening too late. - Running a background screen is always a good idea, but the earlier in the process you do it the earlier you'll spot any problems.

You may be thinking that your building or complex is too nice of a place for a criminal to move into. The truth is problem tenants often rent in places you wouldn't suspect. Not convinced?

{see} Magazine has developed a card identification game in which two of six apartments were rented by people who wouldn't want to be background screened. One of the apartments was rented by a terrorist cell who would show up on a watch list. Another was rented by four people who turned the apartment into a crystal-meth lab. See if you can pick which apartments they rented.

Try This Game and More Inside {see} Digital Magazine

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