credit & back round checks?

Question

New to being a landlord. Im looking for information on the process of pulling a tenants credit and doing a back round check.

How do I pull credit and how long does the process take?

Amanda Dallman · Answer

Hi @Justin Reader

I give applicants the application Bigger pockets has for WA and then order a search from https://www.tenantbackgroundsearch.com. I also charge a bit more then the application for the time it takes me. I will get the results back in about 24 hours.

Hope this helps, and have some Fun!

Amanda Dallman

Mike McCarthy · Answer

@Justin Reader use a service like Apartments.com or Zillow.

Potential renters fill out an online application, pay $30-40, and pull their own credit and background checks which you have access to. Nice and secure and easy.

Be sure to read up on your state’s laws. Most are pretty consistent, but a few have weird laws about who can pay for those checks (MA) and some have oddities about what factors you can or can not take into account when accepting/declining tenants (WA, CA (I think))

Joe Splitrock · Answer

There are two ways to pull credit:

1. Landlord collects social security, name and authorization to pull. Landlord pulls credit, which is a hard pull. The report goes directly to the landlord. Property managers or larger operators may use this method due to cost. They can pay $5-8 per report in volume and then charge the applicant $40-50 to apply.

2. Tenant submits for credit report and agrees to share it with the landlord. This is the more common type today and it is how Apartments or Zillow operate. This shows up as a soft pull on the tenants credit report. The tenant pays the screening service directly and it is usually $30-40 for the pull. You see the report from the screening company.

Either way you get the report, you also need to be prepared to analyze and determine if they are approved. Credit score is only one of many things that a credit report reveals. It also shows payment history, previous addresses and history of when accounts were opened.

Always pull a credit report no matter how nice or honest the applicant appears. Even if your gut tells you they are great, make sure you verify. The best con men will earn your trust quickly, so never trust your gut unless your gut says to deny.

Chad Hale · Answer

@Justin Reader pulling credit should take less than 3minutes for the company to report the results.

credit & back round checks?

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