Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2010 · 804 posts · 230 votes
10y
I use www.SmartMove.com . So far, so good. They do both credit and background check. You can pay for it or have the prospective tenant pay for it. Your choice.
Investor · Cathedral City, CA · Member since 2014 · 481 posts · 170 votes
10y
These services are not enough. All database data subject to errors, just like credit reports are subject to errors. The better options are where humans contact prior landlords and current employers and do a deep dive on the correct questions and answers by phone. Then report all this detail to the landlord. These services take longer.
Investor · Cathedral City, CA · Member since 2014 · 481 posts · 170 votes
10y
Some providers do a better job. The difficulty is they take longer to get better information. So a instance database response to a background check won't happen when professionals do a deeper investigation. These costs are about $6 more.
Cypress, TX · Member since 2016 · 132 posts · 49 votes
10y
@Robert Montanaro use a service like smartmove to do the background checks. Call past landlords and their current employer yourself. Don't rely on the phone number they give you, Google the employer, call the phone you get from Google, and ask for HR.
And trust your gut. If you get that nagging feeling....
Concordia, KS · Member since 2017 · 15 posts · 0 votes
9y
@Jeff Gates
Hello. We are just getting into RE investing buy and hold properties. In the process of our first purchase. We plan to manage everything ourselves initially. You mentioned asking the right questions of previous landlords and current employers by phone in the tenant screening process. Would you please elaborate on these questions for me? We will not be paying for screening services. I work in the legal field and can do most of it myself at the courthouse I think. Thank you in advance!
Carolina · Member since 2017 · 519 posts · 222 votes
9y
I will second what everyone has said here about checking with actual current/past landlords and current/past employers. Also, with the googling of the employer's phone number I would also call the current/past landlord with some initial questions about what properties they have for rent or something like that before you say you are calling for a reference. If someone put down a fake landlord the person will likely say "What? I don't rent properties." or something like that.
@Rene Brown Just a quick thing to help you here on the forums. When you want to reference/mention someone here, just type the first four letters of their name and a little box pops up with their name. Click that box and it creates this blue "mention". :)
Remember that current / past employers will only be able to confirm employment. Regulations - privacy, HIPAA, etc. - prevent them revealing anything more. Always ask for pay stubs, advices of deposit, bank statements, etc.
Concordia, KS · Member since 2017 · 15 posts · 0 votes
9y
Wow I do not find myself computer illiterate at all...Till now! Thank you David. I assume this box pops up as you are typing the name...Is not. Tried numerous ways with spaces etc.