5 Tenants Screening Questions To Ask New Renters - OKC Home Realty Services

Getting a good tenant who is going to take care of your property, pay the rent, and not be a constant pain is one of the most critical responsibilities of property management companies.

Introduction: Oklahoma Tenant Screening

A better tenant screening process makes it easier to eliminate poor quality tenants, which increases occupancy and their profitability. This article shows you how to screen tenants for a rental property. I’m going to share different ways property management OKC performs while screening tenants for rental property.

Once you have a prospective tenant raise their hand and say, “I want to rent this property” you need to have an application you can get into their hands. Our rental application focuses mostly on three things: rental history, their monthly income, and their court records. 

How to Do Background Check on Tenants

 

Questions To Ask While Screening Tenants

One of the simplest ways to avoid wasting lots of your time and energy during the screening process is to state your leasing criteria upfront in your rental advertisement. this is often your opportunity to handle things like pet restrictions, parking, and other screening criteria so applicants can determine if they’re honest suited to your property. 

This offers you a smaller, but the better-qualified pool of applicants from the beginning. By setting expectations upfront and only showing properties to people that are a minimum of somewhat qualified, you'll be more efficient along with your time—and for a busy landlord, time is money.

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1. How long have you lived in your Current Home?

Inquiring about the duration of their past and current residencies is smart to ask potential renters. If they seem to lack stability, hopping around from property to property, chances are that they’re likely to do the same to you, leaving you with a vacancy to fill.

2. Why are you moving? 

Take time to learn about the reason behind the prospective tenants’ move, this simple yet mighty question could help to reveal past issues, such as prior evictions.   A few reasonable explanations for their move maybe because they’ve outgrown their current apartment or want to shave time off their work commute.

3. How many people will occupy the unit?

You want to make sure there are enough bedrooms for all who will be staying in the rental and that you don’t exceed legal limits. Five friends looking to move into your one-bedroom apartment might not be a good fit.

4. Have you ever been evicted?

A thorough screening will help answer this question for you, but inquiring further with your potential tenants in person gives the applicant the chance to explain the situation. TransUnion research shows that past evictions are predictive of future evictions, so if they say yes, you’ll want to proceed with caution. However, if there were extenuating circumstances and their current financial standing is in good order, it may not impact your decision to accept them as a tenant.

5. Have you ever broken a rental agreement?

In some cases, an applicant might have moved out not necessarily due to eviction, but because they broke their rental agreement and ended the lease early. In some cases, this may be understandable—such as in the case of a new construction or unruly neighbors—but without significant reason, this could be a red flag. Make sure this is one of the questions to ask a previous landlord during a landlord reference check to verify the provided information.

Find More Here: Oklahoma Property Management

An intensive screening process guarantees that the potential tenants are dependable and appropriate for tenancy. Without legitimate screening, landlords run the risk of putting poor-quality tenants to live in their property. This can ve a very costly mistake.

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