When a company hires a new employee they conduct a background check as part of the vetting process. This background check draws data from various sources and allows a hiring manager or HR department to make a well-informed decision. Part of the consideration a company or organization takes is assessing the risk that a potential employee may bring to a company or work situation. It is often a sub-conscious process. One of the most important elements of the decision-making process is one simple question: What risk will this employee bring to the company?
When a property manager or landlord considers a new tenant the same thought process occurs. This process may or may not be subconscious but risk is a definite consideration when looking into new tenants.
Risk mitigation is a key component in deciding on new tenants in three key areas:
1. Property – A bad tenant could cause thousands of dollars of damage to an apartment or single-family dwelling. Every day there are news articles on-line and in print outlining the nefarious deeds of bad tenants.
2. People – A bad tenant or group of bad tenants can scare off long-term, highly stable residents, putting a strain on long-term fiscal viability. Further, injury to another tenant by a “bad tenant” could lead to significant financial cost.
3. Perception – A property can gain the “perception” of being a bad property from one or more bad tenants. Damage to the property can visually destroy value, and good tenants can move away, but perception can often become reality. A property manager or landlord can repair property but can they attract tenants, those that are long-term? Again, perception all too often becomes reality.
In each area above there is a specific risk: Property, Person, Perception. And each area can have a significant fiscal cost. Landlords and property managers must conduct thorough background checks on their perspective tenants in order to mitigate the potential or risk.
And a tenant check is not just for the landlords and property managers. Increasingly potential tenants conduct background checks on themselves. With the increase of third-party background screening companies and the use of databases to provide the information required to fulfill this research, potential tenants should understand what information is being reviewed. Further, after a potential tenant reviews the information they may have the opportunity to have certain information corrected. Transactions can be entered incorrectly on credit reports, social security numbers are at risk of illegal attachment, eviction records can report inaccurate data, and on it goes.
For a landlord and property manager a tenant check can provide information required to make sound decisions in regards to new tenants. But it is no longer solely based on fiscal stability. Risk mitigation has become a key element of the tenant vetting process. Creating a safe and secure rental environment is as important as creating a safe and secure work environment.
TenantScreeningUSA.com has a long history of working with property managers and landlords, as well as perspective tenants. They have affordable tenant screening packages and can custom design any package to fit a specific need. For more information go to www.tenantscreeningusa.com today.
