Tenant Screening In Brevard County: Important Things Brevard Landlords Need To Know

If you’re a landlord in Brevard county or own rental properties in Space Coast and the surrounding area, you’ll likely know the importance of tenant screening. Tenant screening is one of the most crucial steps you can take towards protecting your property investment. An experienced local Brevard County property management company can help you effectively screen tenants and ensure that you abide by the law and avoid inadvertently discriminating against any protected classes.

Are you thinking about renting out your property in Brevard County? Here’s everything you need to know about effective tenant screening.

Why Is Tenant Screening Important?

Effectively screening prospective tenants can significantly reduce the chances of dealing with an irresponsible or non-paying tenant. This is because a tenant screen digs into potential tenant’s backgrounds and enables you to reasonably determine the kind of tenant a person might be. Of course, there is no way to know the future quality of a tenant definitively; however, screening can enable you to choose the best possible applicant for your property.

Fortunately, if you’re a landlord in Brevard County and the surrounding area, you don’t have to navigate the tenant screening process alone. Instead, an experienced property management company can help you determine the most efficient process for pre-screening, screening, approving, and rejecting potential rental applicants.

Important Things to Consider When Screening Prospective Tenants

Screening tenants is not a one-size-fits-all deal. The ideal tenant screening process is determined by the needs and requirements of the landlord. For example, at Rent In Brevard Property Management, we tailor screening thresholds to the property owner’s request. This means that the landlord sets the required credit and income levels so that you can be entirely confident in the tenant you lease your property to. Here are three essential aspects of tenant screening in Brevard County.

Determine the Tenant’s Financial Affordability

A non-paying tenant is not only stressful, but it can also be expensive. The eviction process can cost thousands of dollars in lost rent, damages, and legal fees. Although there is no surefire way to guarantee that a tenant will pay the rent, they should be able to show that they earn at least three times the monthly rent amount. At Rent In Brevard Property Management, we carefully analyze prospective tenant’s income and confirm their employment situation to help reduce the risk of a costly eviction.

Previous Rental History

References are an integral part of determining whether a person might make a good tenant. The most informative references are those you receive from previous landlords, as they can give the best indication of how the tenant might behave. Negative references should be taken seriously, especially if positive ones are absent. In addition, it’s also essential to ask about previous evictions as recent ones can indicate a higher risk tenant. Simply relying on the answers of the tenant’s application is often not enough. At Rent In Brevard Property Management, we reach out to previous landlords to ensure all information provided is accurate. We also seek clarification where needed regarding rental history.

Perform a Credit and Criminal Background Check

Credit checks should be a standard when screening a prospective tenant. This is because a tenant’s credit report can provide you with a wealth of information about the tenant’s credit history, including any late payments, their open credit cards, car payments, eviction judgments with a monetary claim, and more.

A criminal background check provides a comprehensive look at a prospective renter’s criminal records. Of course, people can change, and a criminal record from many years previous (or lack of) may not be indicative of a problematic tenant. Nevertheless, the importance of a complete third-party background check, including criminal record search, can not be understated.