It is important to screen potential tenants to make sure that you rent to the right person. The right person includes someone with a good credit, as you are not running a charitable organization by being a landlord. The cost of going to court and fighting for possession is not worth it. For a minimal assured shorthold tenancy of less than 6 months, the courts cannot rule for possession in favour of the landlord till the tenant has stayed up to 6 months. Therefore, renting to a troublesome person or one without a stable income will be shooting yourself in the foot. There are many other reasons as to why a landlord should invest in resources that will aid in successfully screening off bad potential tenants. Below are 8 essential resources to help you do just that.
Right to Rent Check
This should be the first check you conduct, as it is an offence to let a house to a tenant without a right to rent. One of the essential resources to successfully carry out this check is to go through their immigration papers to check their status, which indicates whether they have the right or not.
NLA Tenant Check
This is an important resource that has served landlords well in screening potential tenants. It only costs £8.95 for full members. They offer two categories of services, namely the ‘Basic Tenant Check’, which confirms if the tenant is who they say they are, and the ‘Full Tenant Check’, which does the above but goes on to offer bank details, as well as references from previous employers and landlords.
Experien Tenant Screening Checks
These not only provide checks on potential tenants, but also monitor existing ones, thereby limiting cases of property damage and the use of your property for nefarious activities. They offer three categories, one of which is the Instant Check for Letting Agents, which carries out identity checks, adverse financial checks, and a tenant risk score. Others are their Comprehensive Checks for Letting Agents and the Checks for Private Landlords.
TransUnion’s ResidentScore
By analyzing a potential tenant’s credit history, this tool will determine if they are suitable for you. The scoring model uses an analysis of over 500,000 actual residents. It presents scores for all your potential tenants so that you will make an informed decision on your choice tenant.
Rent Prep Landlord Resources
They provide tenant screening questions, tenant background checks, and tenant credit checks. They assist you through the whole process from before your screening of the tenant, as well as during, and after.
E-Renter
They offer three categories of tenant screening services:
- Basic tenant screening background check
- Basic tenant screening background and credit check
- Premium tenant screening background and credit check
Cozy
Cozy offers a range of services for landlords, including managing their property, rent payment, potential tenants screening, and more.
Vertical Rent
This is a tenant background check tool that helps check applicants credit, criminal, and eviction history at no cost.
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