How to background check an international renter?
I have a potential tenant who wants to put in an application for a property I have for rent. They are from another country and are relocating to my area for a few years with a very well-known company. I have a letter from their company, but am unable to run a credit and background check as I normally do because they don't have a SSN. Has anyone else had this situation before? If so, did you take the company letter as a backing for them and leave it at that? Were you able to do any other checks on your own? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
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Real Estate Agent
- Deena Laugen, Realtor
Depending on which foreign country they are from (i.e. Canada) and the credit agency you use, it may be possible to pull their credit history (even without an SSN).
Failing that, is someone at the company willing to serve as guarantor for the applicant?
#2 General Landlording & Rental Properties Contributor
In the majority of cases you can not do a back ground check. Many times you will find that these applicants will attempt to bribe their landlord into accepting them. In your case, having a solid company referal, assuming you can prove it to be reliable, may be the best you can do. You need to contact the employer directly based on a company human relations phone number you find in the phone book to confirm. Do not accept the applicants referral numbers without confirming they are indeed the company number.
I personally always pass on these applicants and let some other landlord take the risk over finding a applicant I can properly screen.
I have no reason to voluntarily increase my risks for any stranger.
