Tenant screening / checks on renewal
I purchased a property that already had a tenant - they are now in property for a second year. Lease renewal is coming up and they want to renew again. I am planning on doing a tenant screen as I have not done this for the tenant myself and it is essentially a new lease from my perspective, but curious what others do for renewals. Do you screen your tenants every year / on every lease renewal? What screens do you do, or not do? Do you screen all adults in the household or just the person paying the rent?
Thoughts and feedback would be much appreciated!
Most Popular Reply
@Calvin Rappard, I've heard people ask this before but I think its pretty silly.
1. You screen applicants because you don't know them! You get as much objective information about them so that you can make an informed decision.
2. With existing tenants, you DO KNOW THEM! You have a track record of how they are as tenants. That is MUCH more useful than screening criteria.
3. Relationship is important with landlords and tenants, especially with small time landlords. You run the risk of offending tenants by asking them to jump through hoops again just to renew a lease.
4. What if they refuse? Will you not renew them and suffer all of the vacancy/turnover costs? Do you realize how expensive vacancy/turnover is?!? Limiting those expenses is a significant part of landlording! Looking for reasons to increase those expenses sounds counterproductive.
5. What kinds of changes are you looking for to NOT renew an existing tenant? Most everything I would nonrenew a tenant for would likely be known to me without trying to "screen" existing tenants before renewal.