Why is tenant screening so important?
The flip side of renting out real estate is not renting out real estate, i.e., vacancies. When you have a vacancy, no one is paying for that empty space but you, through your mortgage, insurance, and all the expenses that go with making sure the place does not collapse through neglect. But filling a vacancy is easy. Filling a vacancy with a tenant who will pay the rent on time, not annoy neighbors, and keep the property in decent shape is not so easy. In order to weed out prospects that are likely to become headaches in the future, you need a plan. This plan is your system for screening the prospects. Without a plan you are just taking a shot in the dark. In addition, given the current state of the law, it is illegal to treat applicants differently on the basis of race, sex, religion, and other characteristics. A plan that you follow consistently will help you avoid getting into difficulty for doing this, or seeming to do it.
