What do I need from the tenant to do a proper screening?

Question

Hi, I am leasing my first rental and want to make sure I do this right so I don’t get stuck with a bad tenant. What things do I need from the potential renter so I can do a proper screening on them?

Matthew Kwan · Answer

It really comes down to what specific documents you need from the tenant that you'll feel secured and comfortable of renting it to him/her.

The typical criteria would be credit, background check, renters insurance, first + last month of rent + security deposit. If you would like to go beyond, you could request for updated paystubs and bank statements as well.

@Carlos Valencia @Albert Bui

Henry T. · Answer

Thanks Alicia! Yes, my response would be different if he were not of Seattle. The "no evictions during school" is only in Seattle I believe. Land of no more mom/pop landlords, only corporations.

David Bennett · Answer

WA State law (RCW 59.18.257) requires that landlords provide prospective tenants with written, qualifying criteria prior to obtaining any information about a prospective tenant, including what types of information will be accessed to conduct the tenant screening and what criteria may result in denial of the application.

This does not need to be in an Ad (Vasudev Kirs ), but does need to be stated when someone applies, before filling out the information. When creating your criteria, it is important to focus on the evaluation of the following qualities:

• Capacity to pay: Does the prospective tenant have enough income to afford the rent and other expenses involved such as utilities or additional costs such as parking or storage?

• Credit worthiness: Does the prospective tenant have good history of paying bills on time, and is their debt to income ratio low enough that they can afford your rent while meeting other obligations?

• Civil Integrity: Does the prospective tenant have a civil records history that would influence the type of renter they would be, including any history of previous eviction, owing money to previous landlords or poor landlord references due to payment or behavioral issues?

• Contractual Integrity: Has the prospective tenant fulfilled previous contracts in a timely and complete manner? This can include information from landlords on lease violations, but also information from screening reports on payments and collections.

Check your jurisdictional information so that your criteria meet the legal requirements for the area and, of course, for fair housing.  Renting in Seattle has its challenges, as Henry is oft to tell you, but you can be successful if you state your criteria clearly and hold your applications to the criteria.  I leased a property in the Central District in February and there were no problems because I followed my procedures and policies

Timothy Eaton · Answer

Okay! To run the background check, credit, etc. do I just need an id? Or will I need their social as well?

Melanie Thomas · Answer

Happy to share my detailed screening criteria. Feel free to private message me if interested. Good luck & happy investing!

Olivia Grabka · Answer

@Vasudev Kirs

All in the ad for the listing; Zillow makes publishing the listing easy too.  Like I mentioned, Zillow's rental product is outstanding.

Alecia Loveless · Answer

@Timothy Eaton I have created an initial application that has basic information on it like name of all tenants applying, address, make and model of any vehicles, previous landlords, personal references, and I ask what types of debt they currently have and any pets.

Then I use MySmartMove to do the background/credit checks after I’ve approved the application.

I have noticed that MySmartMove keeps going up on their price by a few Pennie’s at a time. It’s now up to $44 for the full background check package.

Alecia Loveless · Answer

@Henry T. This is not the case in all states. NH only really cares about tenants with no heat during the winter. At least in my part of NH.

Henry T. · Answer

Hope they don't have kids or work for the school district. If they stop paying rent in Sep, you can't even think about starting eviction until school is out.

Vasudev Kirs · Answer

do you include all these requirements in the rental ad for transparency or do you communicate them verbally? if verbally, at what point do you communicate them?

What do I need from the tenant to do a proper screening?

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