Tenant Selection Test

[Gregory Irish]

I had a thought about a short 20 multiple question assessment to give prospective tenants during the tenant selection phase of filling a vacant property. Each of the 20 questions would have a most correct answer that awarded 5 points and 3 other answers that would award 0-3 points, or true and false questions that would be 0 or 5 points. This would be used in conjunction with standard screening such as credit, background, and eviction checks. The purpose of this assessment would be to weed out PITA tenants and other types of tenants that cost landlords time, money and sanity. The assessment would finish with a score between 0 and 100 points and each landlord could choose a bottom score they were comfortable with. A few example questions and their answers point values are below to give a better idea of what i’m talking about. I’m interested in feedback about this as well as any ethical or legal concerns it could create.

1. The rent on this property is $1000 monthly. How much of that $1000 do you think goes into the landlords pocket for his personal living expenses.

a. $1000 (0 points)

b. $750 - $950 (1 point)

c. $500 - $650 (3 points)

d. $0 - $450 (5 points)

2. You walk into your kitchen at 1am and realize one of the lightbulbs has burned out. What do you do?

a. Call the landlord immediately, and demand it be replaced within 24 hours (0 points)

b. Make a maintenance request during normal business hours (2 points)

c. Live in complete darkness until you move out (3 points)

d. Replace the lightbulb yourself at your own leisure. (5 points)

3. Are you familiar with a plunger and how to successfully operate one?

a. yes (5 points)

b. no (0 points)

4. You’ve lost your primary source of income and are unsure if you’ll be able to pay rent next month. When is the appropriate time to contact your landlord.

a. immediately (5 points)

b. Before the next rent payment is due (3 points)

c. One the day rent is due (2 points)

d. wait until the landlord contacts you (0 points)