Landlords and homeowners who manage their own rental properties really need to know how to properly screen tenants. You never want to just move a tenant in without checking that person’s background and qualifications. It’s important that you always do a professional background screening. We’re telling you about what we do at Terra Residential Servicesbefore we approve a new tenant for one of our properties.
Background Checks
Our background checks include looking at an applicant’s criminal background, credit history, employment history and rental references. We do careful checks in all of these areas to ensure we are renting a property to the best possible tenant.
Typical Requirements
The typical tenant we place makes at least four times the monthly rent in verifiable income. You can verify what an applicant makes by asking to see pay stubs, tax records or bank statements. We also look for at least three years of verifiable employment. You may need to call the current employer or check pay stubs and employment contracts from past companies. We also want to see three years or more of good rental history. We don’t want to see evictions in an applicant’s past.
An ideal tenant will have good credit, with a credit score of at least 600. The criminal record must be clean or only contain minor, non-violent items. We never want to approve a tenant who shows upon the sexual predator list or in the terror database.
If you’d like to hear more information on how to properly screen a tenant for your Houston rental property, please contact us at Terra Residential Services.
