As a landlord what do you check in the application process? I have had this question asked to me several times by tenants and other landlords. As a landlord you need to have a good application that gets the tenants name phone number social security number drivers license number and I collect their last 5 addresses. Along with at least 3 references. I want as much information as possible on the potential tenants. I also have each tenant over 18 years of age fill out a separate application and they all pay 25.00 per person for the application fee. Some tenants complain that its unfair but If they don't have 25.00 for the application fee I don't want them as tenants anyways.

So now you have the application what do you do with it? Some landlord will run a credit check and put a large infuses on a good credit score. Me personally I could care less about there credit score and to be honest I don't even run one. These days you can hardly judge someone by there credit score with the way that the economy has done people over the last 5 or 6 years.

So what do I check for then? Well first and probably the most important to me is the tenants criminal background. I don't want drug dealers or someone who has a history of beating there wife or kids in any of my properties period. Small offenses that happened years ago I will sometimes let slide. But If your a felon or a thief good luck. Rent to those types of people and your asking for trouble. So my number one most important thing to check for is the criminal background you can get these for free usually online through the county's websites although some do charge a small fee to run a check. If something small comes up that they didn't put on the application I will call them and question them on it. Sometimes people just forget. But if its a major offense of any kind and they didn't tell me then I take them as a liar and toss the application in the trash.

Next I call their job. I want to verify that they actually work where they say that they do. Usually its easy but some companies make this a little difficult to do. In my application I ask for their supervisors phone number instead of the business number this will give me direct access to their boss and I can verify employment.

If the application is still on my desk and not in the trash because of failing anything listed above then I call their previous landlords. When I call I don't say hi I'm calling to see if so and so paid there rent on time for you ect. I call them and say how do you know John Smith? I do this to see if the tenant lied on the application because they screwed over a previous landlord. If the person I called is a friend you will be able to tell instantly there will be a pause or be confused ect. If they with no hesitation say he rented a property from me then I go on with the standard questions. I have asked them so how do know John Smith and gotten answers like we used to work together ect. I laugh and thank them for their time. Then of course shred the application and throw it in the trash.

At this point if the tenant has satisfied my application completely and everything checks out then they are approved to rent my unit. Of course if they make at least 4x's the rent in a month I verify this by asking to see there last 2 check stubs.

If someone lies to you or just plain doesn't pass your requirements do not rent to them. It will save you the headache of later having to remove them or collect rents monthly. The stress level is much lower waiting an extra week for the right tenant to come along rather than renting to someone who doesn't qualify. Let the bad landlords rent to those people.

By sticking to my own qualification requirements I have never had to do an eviction. I know that in the future I will likely have someone slip through the cracks and break my perfect record but until then I can boast about my record.