Landlord Question and Answer Forum

This little gal from Ohio has caused us so much problems. He old boss has a warrant out for her arrest because she stole $2500. Because she now lives in another county they won't do anything about this class 5 situation. IF--if she is picked up or DL checked for any other reason, she could then be arrested. In the mean time she has notified the city of all sorts of --mostly fabricated' issues with the units and the building inspector has sent a letter of wanting us to rid the tenants and shut down the building. I believe she has turned the 6 other units against us. How much of a background check do you do and what company ranks high? Don't want to go thru this again

There are very good companies out there that perform background checks. Many of them offer a menu of choices from simple credit checks to complete background checks. This web-site has 2 very good resources under the resources tab for tenant checks.

Posted by Denise S, PA on Monday, September 29, 2008

Carole, You asked "how much of a background check do you do?" Speaking from experience (I work for a tenant screening company), a credit check is the most run individual report, followed by a national criminal search which includes sex offender. Seems landlords want their money and want to cover their liability first and foremost. That said, most of our customers find it more cost effective to order a report package. For $25, you get a tenant credit check, eviction check, statewide criminal search, ssn verification, sex offender, and OFAC search. In all fairness, there are also other vendors that offer similar products. So feel free to check them out as well. Hope this helps -- David, AdvantageTenant.com

Posted by AdvantageTenant.com ., FL on Thursday, October 16, 2008