good and free rarely go together well. Landlords can and should charge to prospective tenant( I do) for credit check and background check and part of the application process for anyone over 18
Milton, FL · Member since 2019 · 13 posts · 5 votes
7y
@Horacio Gutierrez I use Cozy for all my management needs. They have a credit and background check combo that you can require the tenant to pay for. You can also have them set up direct deposits (which I recommend), proof of insurance, use it as a portal to submit maintenance requests, and post a copy of the lease among other things. I love Cozy.
They do have two set backs. The first is that they do not have customer service via phone. They make up for it by being really great at responding to emails. They say they will respond in 24 hours but it has never taken me more than 3 to hear back from them. The second set back is that it takes 5-8 business days to receive your rent from them vs. 3-5. Not a big deal for us as we have a reserve cash fund for each house in case of emergencies.
Zillow also offers similar services. Worth looking into.
Real Estate Agent · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2017 · 814 posts · 466 votes
7y
Free for you, prospect tenant pays directly, you never see Social # or sensitive info. $40 per person for both Credit and background, $25 for just one choice between the two.
@Horacio Gutierrez nope. No credits to anyone. It eliminates "tire kickers" and most people expect some sort of application fee
Some times, just some times is easier to pay back the application fee for some individuals as a courtesy... Experience and gut feeling will dictate that. It really depends on who you are renting. I don't really want to give more work to my lawyer than it is actually needed. He charge more per hour that the fee for the average cost of application.
@Josue Vargas Curious as to what circumstances would warrant you paying an applicant back their fee?
In 7 years of screening applicants I've never refunded someone an application fee. I'm not sure why I would do that.
If you're going to refund it, why charge one in the first place?
In my personal case, I had one applicant, she wanted the house, moving with his dad, mother, and daughter. She has no history of work since 2005. Her dad took over, I vetted him, everything looks good. They paid themselves (Cozy.co) for background and credit score ($40 for dad, $25 for additional two persons). After they saw my lease, they just backed up... They said is overkill etc. They said have rented for 15 years and my lease is unacceptable,... They said on the phone the words lawyer, law, etc. not the things you want to hear before even negotiation or sign a lease agreement. Not to give you specific of my lease, but has been gone the right channels. I have already a second tenant align, way much qualified than the fist. It just not worth the time fighting over $95. I rather give that to them, they leave me alone, and move on.
Rental Property Investor · Auburn, AL · Member since 2018 · 50 posts · 20 votes
7y
@Horacio Gutierrez
I use rentec direct, I charge 25 dollars for an application fee. Cheaper than most other places. And then to screen with rentec you can go the cheap option for 7 dollars, or do the premium for 15. 15 dollars gets you eviction, credit, and criminal reports. It's been really good to me.
Investor · Member since 2017 · 239 posts · 149 votes
7y
@Cody Furman so legally we landlords are not allowed to profit off the application fee and background checks. Of course you can factor in your time and effort in processing it to justify any price difference but def something to keep in mind. That’s why I prefer the free screening service, I just let anyone apply and run background checks on any applicant that’s genuinely interested. This way I feel like I saw the widest breadth of applicants, and also have comprehensive background checks on all of them to make the best most informed decision. It does increase tIme to look at applicants sInce there are more of them but to choose the tenant I’d say thats time well spent? And agree with you, we need identity verification, criminal records, eviction history, income verIfIcatIon, credit check, etc. it has to be more than just a credit score or something basic like that. (Tellus handles all of them for free via their partner). And! We have to run fresh background checks, I know landlords that just let tenants provide copies of credit reports. Hard to know if those are real or not.
Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2019 · 185 posts · 61 votes
7y
@Horacio Gutierrez Yes! I know I'm a little late to this thread, but on Bigger Pockets under tools, then services, then landlord resources, you can find free software that includes different background check options! Here is the link too: https://www.biggerpockets.com/tools/landlord-resources! Best of luck.