Tenant screening is critical when you want to find renters who will pay on time and take good care of your property. At All County Medallion, we have a low eviction rate, and we would like to keep it that way. One way we do that is by screening our tenants well. Today, we’re sharing some of the things we look for and ask tenants when we’re considering applicants for an owner’s property.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT IN FORT MYERS: WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A TENANT BACKGROUND

You don’t want to rent to a tenant with an undisclosed or undischarged bankruptcy. If you don’t screen for this and you fail to catch it, the tenant will be able to name the property manager or the owner in the bankruptcy. Until it’s discharged, that person will owe you nothing due to bankruptcy laws. Always check for this.
We also take a close look at the prospective tenant’s car. The way a person keeps their car can give us a barometer of how nicely a tenant will keep your property.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT IN CAPE CORAL: FINANCIAL SCREENING

We always check a tenant’s credit, but there are a couple of things we don’t put a lot of emphasis on. For example, we don’t deny an applicant for having outstanding student loans. There are so many people that just don’t pay them. Medical bills are also often a pass. It sounds trite, but bad things do happen to good people. Medical bills can be a very bad thing, and they can be damaging to a person’s financial security. So, we don’t place a huge emphasis on medical bills or student loans.

However, we do pay attention to car payments and cell phone payments. Cable bill payments are important. If a tenant isn’t making a car payment, that tenant will eventually have trouble getting to work. Phone and cable bills are also a fair to good predictor of whether you’ll get your rent on time.

The credit score is good to check, but it’s not all-inclusive when it comes to measuring a prospective tenant’s ability to pay rent.

These are some of the things we always watch out for. If you have any questions about tenant screening or anything pertaining to property management in Fort Myers and sunny southwest Florida, please contact us at All County Medallion Property Management.

For more information about this subject or anything else related to property management in the Fort Myers area, please contact us at (239) 204-4171 or email us at contact@allcountymedallion.com. We’ll be happy to help you with your specific needs.