Landlords....background/credit check/employment check help!!!

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Our renter bailed just before signing the lease as his current landlord finally agreed to a drastic cut in their rent. We hadn't advertised as between March and last night---they were good to go as their landlord
wouldn't do anything. I guess the reality of no rental income made him change his tune. This was someone we knew and trusted, so we weren't going to go through all of the checks.

Now we have cast out the net to catch another renter and it is u likely to be someone we know.

I know that a landlord would have the right to check and validate things such as credit history and employment. But I do not have the first clue on how I am supposed to do that. Please help!!!!!

We offered the rest of August free and half off of September to try and get someone quickly. The fish are biting and I need to find and verify a good one. Thanks! (and by that--I mean do what I legally can to make sure that someone who seems like a great idea is on their 3rd bankruptcy and got kicked out of their last place for violating their lease agreement not to mention has broken very serious laws)

thanks!

 

[golfgal]

You can pay to run a credit report through one of the credit reporting services and you can ask for a copy of a current paystub from their job and call the employer to verify employment (they can tell you dates and maybe salary but not much more unless you are lucky). That should at least give you an idea if they pay their bills on time. YOu can try calling the utility companies that they have had in the past and ask to do a "credit check". You can ask if they pay their bills on time and if not how far past due they have been an how often. Some places will tell you, some wont. You can also ask for references from previous landlords (which will tell you a LOT).

What we do with our renters is have them mail the rent checks a week early and we agree not to cash them until after the 1st of the month. It has worked well for us for 4 years, never had a late payment. We also built in a $50 late fee plus any bank charges for late rent.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Great!

What about a criminal history background check?

I'd like to assume that a stranger is an upstanding citizen--but I'd like to confirm they haven't committed a felony in the past. That is legal to check, right? I can't remember from my past as a renter.

 

[golfgal]

Great!

What about a criminal history background check?

I'd like to assume that a stranger is an upstanding citizen--but I'd like to confirm they haven't committed a felony in the past. That is legal to check, right? I can't remember from my past as a renter.

Yes you can check that as well. I am not sure where to do that but I would start with a call to your police department and ask them how to check that.