Selecting Tenants For Your Rental Property

By Karen Solemen


All landlords seek to find ideal tenants; tenants who are responsible, pay their rent on time, and treat your property with respect. When the tenants turn out to be problematic, the landlord can have a really tough time having them removed, it can be a costly procedure, and then there are the expensive damages they cause to the rental property. How does a landlord ensure that they get the highest quality tenants?

An application is necessary

You can do an initial telephone screening at the outset. One of the first questions should be about the number of people who would be living on the property. You may find out in casual conversation, what the person does for a living, whether they have any pets, and so on. After someone passes the screening on the phone, then a landlord can set a time for a viewing of the rental unit. If there is a lot of interest in the home, you may want to set up viewing times, on specific evenings.

A full length application form should be filled out for people who are interested in your rental unit. Each province has Human Rights codes that must be followed during screening, but the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation does suggest that after these are covered, a landlord should inquire as to a prospective tenant's suitability for the rental property. For example, you can ask where they work, what their income is, how many people will be living in the residence and their names and whether they have pets or if they smoke.

Ethnic or religious background, marital status, if family will visit, sexual preference, if they will have children in the future, and to provide their social insurance number are examples of things that landlords are not allowed to ask about.

Even if you're in a hurry to get the place rented, take the time to really review the applications and do background checks. Any time spent now, will save you time and money in the long run. Your rental application should include a release allowing you to obtain information from employers, previous landlords, and credit bureaus. After the form is completed, you can't assume all of the data on it is accurate. Be sure to actually talk to former landlords and employers.

In Canada, with the consent of the prospective tenant, you can obtain a credit check from Equifax Canada or Trans Union Canada. You can also contact Rent Check Credit Bureau, a credit bureau strictly for the housing industry.

Employment: Contact the prospective tenant's employer to confirm their employment status. How long have they been employed? What is their current position? Full or part time? How much is their salary?

Be sure to check rental history and other references. Obtain information to contact their previous landlord, and when possible, the last 2 or 3 landlords of your prospective tenant. When did they live in your rental property? When did they move out? Did they ever pay the rent late? Did they have pets on the property? Were there any damages that were over and above the expected amount of wear and tear on the property? Was the notice provided proper when they moved out of the unit? Would you rent in the future to them?




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