All Forum Posts by: Sarnen Steinbarth

You may not actually need their SSN on an application - there are ways that you can still get credit and criminal reports without you needing to have that on the rental application. Then when you send the application on to a past landlord it will not have that data on it.

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Keep in mind not all screening reports (credit reports) are a hard-hit that affects a tenant's credit.

Ours, for example, does not affect the tenant's credit score in anyway. Soft-hit or "pushing" credit vs. "pulling" credit is becoming more popular, in part for this exact reason.

@Steven Anderson

@Alex Hamilton

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Seems like best practice is to go with the first qualified tenant who is ready and able to put the money down and sign the lease.

I would not necessarily change the lease terms, though.

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@Angela Henderson Craigslist is probably the #1 site for rental throughout the US. Then there are a handful of other popular sites like rent.com, apartmentlist.com, etc.

I can send you some more information on getting on a bunch of websites easily!

1 Vote

Originally posted by @Michaela G.:

I give an application that asks for rental and employment history and some other things. If those check out, I'll go through SmartMove and let them fill out an app there and pay $ 35 for the fee.

One thing I like is that the emails show 'TransUnion'. There are many landlord scams out there now and tenants are not always comfortable giving out their ss# and application fee to just anyone. This way they can see that they're dealing with one of the credit reporting agencies.

I have had problems with several applicants not receiving the email, inviting them to fill out the application. I now always also forward the one that I'm copied in on to the applicant.

Another thing, that seems to be prevalent in my area is that certain tenants know the game. In Atlanta you're forced to go to mediation, before you're given the option to see the judge. Only if you don't come to an arrangement, will you go to the judge. Bad tenants know that if they do mediation and voluntarily agree to move out , they will not have an eviction on their record.

So, you can have a serial dead-beat tenant apply and you have no idea that they may have gone through 10 evictions, which always ended at mediation and thus don't show on an eviction report.

I have also found that tenants appreciate that it does not affect their credit (lower their score). We have certainly seen that as a plus with our users, and if landlords can get the same data then it is a win-win.

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We prefer TransUnion / SmartMove over the other credit bureaus.

They have both the background check and the credit report (plus more) included in the screening report.

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We have had $35 applications at my management company for 5+ years with very little push-back.

Most of the tenants that you would probably want never seem to have an issue with a reasonable application fee.

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@Joey Arata There are some screening services that call for you. But most don't.

I think as a landlord it is a good idea to be making those call yourself so you can feel comfortable and asses the situation personally.

Do get a credit and background check. And as mentioned definitely learn your landlord-tenant and fair housing laws.

1 Vote

All Forum Posts by: Sarnen Steinbarth

Sarnen Steinbarth has started 4 posts and replied 293 times.

Post: Rentpost

Post: Apps for tracking tenant info and rent

Post: Tenant screening and protecting their information

Post: tenant screening question

Post: tenant screening question

Post: Bought First Rental

Post: Choosing a screening provider: SmartMove vs. Cozy vs. ?

Post: Choosing a screening provider: SmartMove vs. Cozy vs. ?

Post: Do potential tenants balk at screening costs?

Post: Got my duplex yes!... Now what??