The credit report tenant records are one of the most important things that you as a property owner must have. These documents and files are the ones that tell you whether or not an applicant is able to fulfill the role of being a tenant in your property.

When you use a company to check these records, you will find out everything you need to know about the possible tenant’s credit history. It is a process that must be done for each new application. Failure to do so can bring a set of problems that you could have otherwise avoided. This article enumerates the three potential problems.

Breach of Safety

As a property owner, you may or may not be living on the property that you are leasing out. There may also be other tenants currently living on the property. If you accept a new tenant without knowing their credit details, you could be placing your existing tenants’ safety, and your own, at risk.

A new tenant might be hard up for money, which in itself is usually a solvable problem. However, if the new tenant has money issues pertaining to an illegal matter, or has an income from criminal sources, then your safety is completely blown. Checking the credit report tenant details beforehand will save you from being forced into such a situation. Using a specialized company to do it for gives you even greater depth.

People Who Are Unable To Manage Their Financial Life

A credit report tenant record will also tell you if your possible new tenant is known for being a regular payer. That is, it will be noted by their previous landlord if they were always on time for payments of any sort. A person’s ability to always pay on time is one of the qualities that a property owner would look for.
If you accept people who have a history of being late in payments, you may find yourself having to enter unnecessary conflicts between you and that tenant. As the owner, you cannot let yourself adapt solely because of one person’s monetary problems. It is bad not only for business but also for your reputation as a property owner.
Running a check on the credit report tenant records will also let you know if the applicant has had any past troubles with managing any other aspect of their financial income. This includes any record of bankruptcy and even any charge-offs.

Criminal Activity

The most unwanted situation for a property owner is to have a tenant who is involved with criminal activity. While a credit report tenant check may not give you any information pertaining to their exact criminal history, it is linked to it and can show any discrepancies made in their financial status. Cross referencing this to their personal record is a good way for companies to weed out unwanted tenants.

The Major Things to Avoid in a Tenant

The key things to watch out for in a tenant are:

• People who do not pay on time.
• People who are unable to manage their income successfully.
• People who hide or lie about their criminal activities.

For all of your tenant screening, tenant background check, and tenant credit check needs turn to FidelisAM.com

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At this point, you will have to ask yourself how you want to handle the screenings. This is where a third person party, or a company, can come in and help you. A company that specializes in screening tenants can offer you many benefits.

Time Management

Hiring a company to check the validity and history of your applying tenants will help you save a lot of time. Usually, you would have to deal with pulling information on a single client from multiple sources, an activity that can take you at least a day. However, a company can take over for you. While they deal with the tenant screening, you can apply that same time doing other important activities.

Also, a company works much faster than a single person. You can give them the information of a possible tenant and find yourself getting the results within several hours.

Thoroughness

A company that specializes in screening tenants will be able to check your tenants’ history with a thorough ease that you would not be able to achieve by yourself. They are liable to have much more contacts than you, and will be able to utilize them to effect.

Accurate Results

Anyone makes mistakes, and when you are backed up in trying to deal with every tenant screening that comes your way, you are bound to mess up at some point, be it arranging different papers or putting a name down on the wrong space. A hired screening company is made up of many people whose combined efforts and use of modern technology will result in much less mistakes than if it were done by one person alone.

Efficiency and Simplicity

When you check your work list, you always look for ways of completing your objectives in the easiest and simplest way possible. With the help of a tenant screening company, you will succeed in doing so. The presence of a hired company sorting out a major part of your business will give you better preparation time and a mind that is clear of screening-related problems.

Safety

A tenant screening company will also be able to stand as a shield between you and the possible tenant if said tenant is actually a fraud or connected to illegal practices. If you were to do the research yourself, you will probably be deliberately led away from any unsavory reports and details, and may accept the application without much thought.

A company is much more thorough and can dig deeper than you can. If they find anything that may hinder the client’s ability to meet the lease agreements, or anything that can negate or bring trouble to you and your contract, they will inform you promptly. You will be able to decline the application with a clearer conscience.

For all of your tenant screening, background check, and credit check needs, turn to FidelisAM.com.

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That is a strategy for frustration. Let’s turn that situation upside-down. It would be preferable to do the following exercise before you need a new tenant.

You need to envision your ideal tenant. Think of everything you want in a tenant and then take it another level. Of course, your ideal tenant will pay on time (preferably early), will not be noisy or abusive, will keep a clean apartment, park in his spot, have nice guests over on occasion who are just as nice or nicer than he is, and many other things.

When you are creating this “customer (or tenant) avatar,” you need to dig deeper. Not only should you imagine your ideal tenant’s behavior as a tenant but also her behavior as a person. After all, you rent to real human beings, not avatars! So imagine what this person does for a living. What makes him successful at his job? How does he dress? What time does she wake up in the morning and what does her morning ritual look like.

In short, imagine every single aspect about your perfect tenant. Clothes, hobbies, skills, likes and dislikes, the car he drives, the people he associates with—everything!

You will find that you can make a perfect visual image of this person, as well. Is it a man or a woman? Long hair or short hair? What color hair, eyes? Slight of build, muscular, or heavy? You decide—it’s your perfect tenant!

What is the purpose of this exercise? There is growing evidence that what you seek can be manifested through your thoughts. Now, nobody knows why things come to be…they just do. The idea, then, is to imagine that perfect tenant, down to every last detail.

You may find that he (or she) just walks through your door. Actually, you may start attracting many “ideal tenants” and have the “problem” of turning away really good candidates for rental units you may have open.

Like you read before—it’s best to do this exercise before you actually need it. Do not try to do it if you are desperate to fill a unit. You know what you get then? That tenant that fits what you need at that very moment: A passable background check with available funds right now. But you may have opened your door to a problem down the line.

If you can create your own destiny—or if there is even a chance—why not take it?

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While most rental agreements run their course without any changes necessary, on occasion, you may find that your rental agreement needs updating. One situation where this becomes painfully obvious is when the people seemingly living in an apartment are clearly not the original tenants.

Often, the case arises where a relationship develops such that a “guest” becomes a roommate. For example, you may have an agreement where there are two tenants, Bill and Bob. Bill has a girlfriend who, at first, stays overnight once in a while. After several months, you notice that Shelly, Bill’s girlfriend, is over “a lot.” Her car is always there and she seems to be there more often than not.

What do you do? Is she a guest? Is she a roommate? Do you need to amend the rental agreement?

Laws vary, of course, but—in general—a guest becomes a roommate per the verbiage specified in the rental agreement. This is why it is vitally important to cover your bases in your rental contracts—have them written and/or reviewed by a competent real estate attorney. It will be money wisely spent.

Assuming that the necessary verbiage is contained in the rental agreement, simply follow the process. For example, if the rental agreement states that a tenant can have a stay-over guest 4 times in one month, and you know that Shelly has stayed over night 14 out of 18 days, there is a great chance you can convince Bill and Bob that they need to add Shelly as a tenant to the rental agreement.

If they decline, you should attempt to either reconsider your request or tell Shelly to stay over less often. Abide by the rules or face the consequences.

The ultimate consequence, of course, is eviction. If Bill and Bob are breaching their rental agreement, you have every right to begin the eviction process.

However, you may choose not to, in which case it is in your best interest to get Shelly on that rental agreement.

Courts vary widely in their treatment and application of “guests versus roommates” – you may want to find out how your local jurisdiction treats such cases. Of course, the past is not necessarily indicative of how they may rule in your case, but history is a good indicator of how they may respond.

Obviously, each case is unique. The best rule of thumb to follow is this: If it looks like someone has moved in, do your darnedest to get them on the rental agreement. Failure to do so can amplify your exposure to a financial calamity down the road.

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First of all, consider the maturity level of your average college student. In many cases, they are fresh high school graduates, out on their own for the very first time in their lives. Further, most of them will not be gainfully employed (their class work is their job, but it won’t pay the rent), and they will have zero experience living independently. Additionally, they may have no credit history whatsoever and they may not have ever purchased, leased, or rented anything on their own.

That all sounds bad, but it doesn’t have to be.

If the college student is still a minor, you have no choice but to add either or both parents to the rental agreement as co-signors because, by law, minors cannot enter into legally-binding contracts. Put another way, if you do not have the parents co-sign, you could be unable to legally seek judgment for unpaid rent.

It is, however, in your best interest to have either or both parents co-sign the rental agreement, whether or not their child is still a minor. Some kids lack maturity and responsibility, even if of adult-age, and will bail on you if something goes remotely awry in their lives. If a parent is on the lease, you can attempt to collect past-due rent from them, and you most likely will be successful in doing so.

Conduct the normal tenant screen on the students as well as the co-signors. If anything negative comes back, consider declining the rental application.

You will want your real estate attorney to write up a rental agreement that is specifically suited to renting to college students. For example, most leases do not have co-signors; however, college rental agreements ought to. Also, make sure that there are provisions in the agreement about noise, maximum occupancy, and repairs and damages.

College students are known to have parties. Parties can get out of hand fast, causing your other tenants undue grief, causing noise violations, and causing a lot of damage in a short period of time. Stipulate in your rental agreement the rules around parties. Address things like “quiet time,” the total number of people who can be in the premises at a time, and how damages to the inside and exterior will be handled.

Also, point out whether or not you allow sub-leasing, as most college students return home after the school year and only wish to pay rent for the time they are actually occupying your rental property.

Note that renting to college students is usually a safe bet. Each student will have planned—with his or her family—how they were going to arrange for the payment of rent for an entire school year. In most cases, you will not find yourself getting stiffed by college students.

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The first thing you need to do is imagine your typical rental prospect. What are her expectations? What does she want when she looks at properties like yours? Put yourself in her shoes—imagine her emotions as she walks through the property.

Is this how you want to feel while on vacation?

You want to feel special, like you’re giving yourself a treat. You want no stone left unturned. Candies on the pillow. Bottled water in the fridge. Thick fluffy towels and robes.

Take a look at your immediate competition. It may sound odd, but all you really need to do is be better than your competition. This is THE SECRET of business.

If you are well-known in your area, you may want to hire a “secret shopper” to visit your competition as a prospective renter and record the customer experience: Did you feel important or special? Did the landlord or leasing agent seem to care? Did he listen? Did he address my expectations? Do I think I will have an experience worthy not only of my returning here next time I vacation, but will I recommend this vacation rental place to my social circles?

Consider paying your secret shopper to stay at a couple competitors rentals. It may be the best marketing research money you can spend because you can get a thorough review from an unbiased person on what exactly worked and could be improved.

Take that information and compare it to your own property. Be brutally honest with yourself and your staff. The only way you improve in business is to take periodic assessments and try to improve on your weaknesses while maintaining your strengths.

Use this as an opportunity to improve and expand your business rather than as a “grading opportunity.” It’s your chance to asses where you are compared to your local competition. Remember, strive to be better than them!

Remember, too, that vacationers have much higher expectations of vacation rentals than they do of regular rentals. They expect to be pampered and that “every day” details like getting a newspaper or re-stocking the refrigerator are nice touches to take care of them so that they don’t have to.

They like being called by their name (e.g., Mr. Thompson), they like wake up calls that actually work, and they like simple things like recommendations for local hotspots, local deals, and insider information that they cannot get themselves.

You have a lot to gain by following these very simple steps and very little to lose. Why not try them?

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There is nothing worse to a tenant than to arrive at his apartment late one Saturday night to find that there is no parking in the immediate vicinity and that he has to park his car on the street, two blocks from his house. In many places, college towns especially, tenant parking gets used on weekend nights by guests of other tenants and party-goers.

As a property manager, you need to walk the tightrope between keeping your tenants happy and doing the right thing.

First things first: Ensure that you have proper signage in all the right places. Every location is different; find out what signs you need to put up, where, and what each has to say in order to comply with the local laws. You have to cover yourself in the event that you have to tow cars that don’t belong on your premises. It’s an ugly fact of property management, but—on occasion—you will have to tow somebody.

The last thing you want is to have to deal with having broken the law while trying to carry out responsibility of ensuring that your tenants can park in your lot.

Besides having the right signage, you also need to make sure that you follow applicable laws when it comes to attempting to find somebody who has parked in an unauthorized fashion on your property. For example, you cannot watch somebody park in your lot who doesn’t belong there, call the tow company, and have their car towed. You MUST make an attempt to find the owner of the car that is parked inappropriately in your lot before you can initiate the tow process.

Once you have drawn that proverbial line in the sand, where you have made a statement to the public about the fact that they will be towed if they park in your lot when they should not be doing so—as in the case of a party in a neighboring apartment complex—you must practice what you preach. It is not okay to be inconsistent!

The same goes for your handicapped parking spaces. You must patrol your grounds and ensure that people are parking in spots appropriately.

Part of your property management responsibilities is to ensure that parking spaces are easily discerned. You need to make sure that the parking stalls are re-striped (re-painted) on a regular basis. Over time, the paint will fade away. Either hire a construction company that can do this for you or buy the equipment needed to do the job yourself. Contrary to what you may believe, you can find parking striping machines for less than $100 that are suitable for small jobs.

For larger jobs, you will most likely want to hire a company who already owns the equipment.

So there you have it: Establish proper and legal parking rules, enforce them, and your tenants will thank you for doing so when they come home late on a Friday or Saturday night.

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Wild fires have also been featured prominently in the news. They have decimated places like Colorado Springs, driving people from their homes as they watch them burn to the ground. As people flee their homes, they inevitably take residence in hotels and rental apartments, as it takes months to re-build a burned-down house.

It truly is saddening.

There are several things you can do to mitigate the risks of fires as well as over-used HVAC equipment.

First and foremost, make sure that your property is free from weeds and other dry growth. It is critical that you remove dry brush from within and around your property. Dry weeds will spread a fire very quickly! While it does take some very hard work to remove the brush, it is hard work that pays off.

Of course, your property will look better without dry, dead, brown weeds all around it.

You should take the time right now if you haven’t done it already to take a look at each unit’s A/C system to ensure that the units are in perfect working order. Make sure that you change the HVAC filter right away, as you should do monthly while air conditioners and heating units are in high demand. Remember, if the A/C is on, it is sucking dirty air up through the filter. A good filter will catch the dust; however, it will soon get clogged, reducing the efficiency of the A/C unit (it will have to work harder to pump the return air back through the unit).

Also take a look at the units outside your rentals. Make sure that there aren’t any impediments to air flow. If there is, remove it immediately. This part of your a/c system pulls the hot air out of the system and uses a giant evaporative fan to transfer the heat to the outside air.

Don’t forget about your common areas, either. Your lobby, office, and any conference rooms you may have are reliant on a properly-running A/C system to keep the inside temperatures comfortable. They require maintenance, too!

Finally, encourage your residents to use heat-generating devices (ovens and dishwashers, primarily) at night, when it’s cooler. Using them during the day causes two problems: First, they cost more to run during the day, and, second, they generate heat—lots of it.

Therefore, it is best to run them at night.

In conclusion, these are three simple things you can do to reduce the burden of high temperatures.

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Your tenants are your bread and butter: They provide your income. When you first rented out your property to a tenant, you ensured, through a proper credit, that he reliably paid his bills, in full and on time. You also checked that your tenant was gainfully employed to ensure that he would be able to pay his rent.

It is in your best interest, then, that you do everything you can to ensure his safety. After all, an injured tenant cannot work and therefore cannot pay his rent.

There are quite a few things you can do as a landlord that will maximize tenant safety. The first thing you need to do—and it needs to become a habit if it hasn’t already—is to be keenly aware of any hazards and potential hazards that may arise on your property.

It is incumbent upon you to take daily walks around your property and also instill in your staff to do the same. Things that you will want to look for are tripping hazards, slip and fall conditions, and other safety issues that may cause falling issues. Things like uneven pavement or sidewalks that are often caused by old tree roots can become safety nuisances literally overnight. Repair such conditions as soon as possible!

You can also enable and encourage your tenants to report unsafe conditions, as well. Keep an open door policy so that when tenants do encounter unsafe conditions, that they can freely report them to your or your staff. You don’t want to discourage their reporting of these conditions. They can, in fact, be your silent safety crew, reporting issues when they encounter them.

Your staff needs to be trained to look for potential safety items, too. Often, your staff may even unknowingly create unsafe conditions, as well. For example, when they mop the laundry room, they need to make sure that they don’t leave a lot of standing water and that they post yellow caution placards or signs appropriately. Tenants slipping on slick surfaces is one of the most frequent and easily-preventable safety issues, causing landlords millions of dollars annually.

When tenants and their guests injure themselves, there are many expenses that you encounter: Medical bills, lost wages, and the potential for legal fees and losses due to lawsuits. We live in a very litigious society; many tenants will not hesitate to sue you if they injure themselves on your property.

It is obviously a wise financial move on your part to take tenant safety seriously. Not only should you take daily walks around your properties, but you should also make regular safety inspections, both externally and internally, and record your findings in written form. When you find issues, remedy them and document what you did to fix the issues.

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Preventive maintenance is always the best way to minimize your expenditures over time. Properly maintaining your rental properties is far superior to allowing things to break and then fixing them. Some of your bigger potential maintenance costs include properly servicing your appliances like community washers and dryers. A little bit of proactive maintenance goes a long way. Train your staff to clean the washers and dryers each and every day; inspect each machine at the start of the day, and make sure that they take care of any minor issues promptly.

Community or shared areas like the laundry, office lobby, and other community areas, both inside and outside, are other areas where a little regular care can prevent expense repairs and maintenance later on. Touching up paint, spot cleaning stains, and regular vacuuming will reduce much more costly maintenance further on down the road. For example, you can extend the life of your carpets by about one-third simply by vacuuming your rugs once per week (more often in high-traffic areas).

Repairing leaky faucets can save you a ton of money on your water bill. It can also reduce hard water stains that you will have to eventually correct anyway. Replacing traditional incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs will save you a lot of money on your electrical bill. Replacing heating filters on a regular basis—at least twice a year—will not only save you and your tenants money on electricity, but it will also extend the lives of your HVAC equipment. Heating and air conditioning equipment runs with less stress when it is operating with clean filters.

Review your watering schedule, too. At the change of seasons, it’s always a good time to take a look at when you water your lawns and flowers and other landscaping. Now that it’s heating up, you will have to water more frequently and perhaps a bit longer each day. Of course, using more water will cost you more in water fees, but dead or dying plants are very expensive to replace.

Finally, make sure that you inspect your smoke detectors at least twice per year and replace the batteries frequently. Changing out the batteries on smoke detectors is very cheap insurance against very expensive losses due to fire and smoke damage.

As you can tell, making regular maintenance tasks can save you a lot of money over time. In many cases, very small outlays on preventive maintenance tasks can save you substantial sums of money in costly repairs and replacements.

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