Basic tenant screening ... and why its likely overated

[Andrey Y.]

I think its pretty safe to say that most people have their own opinion on the level of screening that tenants require in their market. Most people would run a credit check and possibly a background check.

Personally, I don't do any of these. I know several other B&H investors in Hawaii that share the same philosophy. And guess what, all of the stories that I read on here about evictions (which seem to be relatively common), have happened anyway regardless of screening parameters.

Given this, I was thinking of doing a basic screening process anyways for the next rental, just for fun.
If you guys had $25 to spend on screening a potential tenant, how would you spend it?
Is it perfectly fine to charge an application fee, if not planning to use said fee to pay for screening?

For the record, I have no charged for application fees in the past. Nor have I done credit or background checks.

I think getting to know a person and social judgment is underrated. Plus, if you are doing rentals with $1500-3000/month/unit income, I think formal screening as mentioned above becomes less important. If someone is dealing drugs to make that income, I would likely know after speaking with the tenant/family.