If you are planning to rent your house then it becomes very important to think about the kind of tenant you would like to have. You have all the rights to decide renting to anyone you want. The only concerns that has been raised in recent years is the increase in complains landlords have risen against their tenants who are either delaying rents or not paying at all. Therefore, it becomes important for landlords to perform tenant checks in which they can get a thorough tenant credit report to make sure they are renting the house to the right one who can always pay on-time.

The moment you’re thinking of renting your house to an absolute stranger, you must at-least try to gather more information from what the stranger has given you as a reference. Basic things can sometime lead to good amount of valuable information validating tenant’s credit history or any other criminal/fraud records. Landlords are strictly advised to check the criminal record, sex offender records, terrorist records and any other relevant records before renting.

Rental industry had considerable effects of The Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 1996 which came into effect as from October 1, 1997. This act informs every landlord to take a disclaimer (a kind of written authorization) from each stranger applying for tenant position before screening. Even if the application is denied, this disclaimer is kept in records. Under situation when the landlord has to take strict actions against a tenant, he should provide an oral/written notice of the action along with the consumer reporting agency details that has furnished the report. The tenant on the other-hand has full rights to demand a copy of report and the right to dispute the findings.

There are different ways in which tenant checks are performed. First one is where all the expenditure is born by the landlord or by a professional company much experienced in this field. Secondly, these background checks can be performed by private agencies or individuals which only work in this field. The background screening services would run a thorough background check on applicants public records, credit history, employment etc., followed by personal interviews (optional) of previous landlords who can furnish some unique information valuable in justifying a case progress. Getting someone into a house as a tenant doesn’t work all time on trust. People might get fooled by entrusting someone who turned out to be an unsuitable tenant resulting into a loss of rental income.