At Elite Pacific Properties, we take tenant screening
seriously because we know what kind of impact the right tenant
will have on the success of your investment experience.
We also know the impact a bad tenant will have.
It’s important to find a highly qualified tenant who
understands the importance of
paying rent on time, following the terms of the lease agreement, and taking care
of the rental property. If you insist on well-qualified
residents,
contact our team
at Elite Pacific Properties. We’d love to tell you why
we have a high rate for tenant retention and a low rate for
tenant evictions.
Here are some of the steps we take while screening to find the
best residents for your Oahu investment property.
Rental Criteria and Fair Housing
First, we have an established set of rental criteria. This is
important because before you begin collecting applications and
screening tenants, you must understand the fair housing laws.
You cannot discriminate against applicants based on race,
color, national origin, sex, familial status, religion, or
disability.
We don’t meet a lot of landlords who discriminate
intentionally, but the way you handle each application could
lead you to make mistakes that you didn’t realize were
fair housing violations. That can result in an expensive
lawsuit. Screen every applicant consistently.
Establish your standard rental criteria and provide it in
writing to your potential tenants before they even apply. You
can list your income requirements, credit requirements, and
anything else that they’ll need to have in order to be
approved for your property. When you have this in place and
you follow it every time you screen, you won’t make an
expensive fair housing mistake.
Conduct National Eviction and Criminal Checks
Your first step should be to check for a criminal history.
Make sure you do a national search, not just a local one. When
you’re putting together your criteria, you’ll have
to determine whether you will accept a criminal background of
any kind. Maybe a tenant with a nonviolent offense 20 years
ago is acceptable but an applicant with a recent history of
violent or drug-related offenses isn’t. Set your
standards and stick to them.
Look for past evictions as well. Again, use your best judgment
when you decide whether you will accept a tenant with a prior
eviction. Just be consistent. Maybe someone who was evicted 10
years ago but has done a good job establishing a solid rental
history since then is acceptable but an applicant with four
evictions in the last five years is not. Set some standards.
Verify Credit, Income, and Financial History
Check credit, but don’t get too distracted by the credit
score. Finding someone with perfect credit will be difficult,
especially given the economic ups and downs over the last 10
years. You’re looking for someone who demonstrates
financial responsibility and a record of paying their housing
bills on time. A history of late or unpaid utility bills might
be a red flag. You don’t want to see any debt
that’s owed to former landlords, apartment buildings, or
property managers, either.
Ask for Rental References
A good way to get a feeling for how a tenant has behaved in
the past is by checking rental references. Call or email
current and former landlords. Find out if rent was paid on
time, the lease was followed, and any property damage was left
behind. Ask about pets and whether proper notice was given
before the tenant moved out. These reference checks can be
invaluable in evaluating how tenants have performed in
previous rental homes.
If you need help with tenant screening or you have any
Oahu property management
questions, please
contact us
at Elite Pacific Properties.
