As a landlord or property manager, you will have to deal with lease or rental agreement renewals on occasion. Every lease or rental agreement has a fixed term. The most common fixed terms are monthly (rental agreements) and annually (leases). Many leases begin as an annual agreement that turns into a month-to-month agreement if the annual lease is not renewed.

Either party to a lease, the renter or the landlord, can initiate a renewal. Of course, after 12 months, a lease renewal is pretty automatic: It either kicks off another annual lease or it turns month to month. Generally speaking, if all went well, leases are renewed with both parties happy to extend the relationship. Occasionally, a renter may need to move to another area at the expiration of a lease or she may want to move to a place where the rent is cheaper. But for the most part, most rental agreements are renewed.

A tenant credit check is one of the most important things that you—as a property manager or landlord—can do. Doing so can help you minimize the risk that a tenant will not pay his or her rent. While the past may not be an indicator of future performance, it certainly can be used to judge the financial soundness of any potential tenant.

Plus, running credit and background checks on every possible tenant is a sound strategy for avoiding charges of discrimination. For example, if you run credit checks on all potential tenants without deviation, how can anybody accuse you of being unfair or discriminatory in this regard?