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It doesn’t matter if you are a tenant or a landlord; it is likely you have
heard the term tenant credit checks at some time or another. These checks are
carried out on the landlord’s behalf to make sure that the tenant moving in
can afford to pay the bills and the rent.
Who does them and what do they do?
There are many companies both online and off that perform these checks for
landlords. They will be able to access the tenants credit report form all of
the major credit companies e.g. Experian, Equifax and Trans union. These
companies will then be able to verify the tenant is who they say they are by
looking at their social security information and number. They will also be
able to retrieve previous addresses, bankruptcy information, past debts,
judgment notices and anything else that shows up on the tenant’s credit
rating.
These services are chargeable to the landlord, but landlords like to be able
to have peace of mind when renting their properties out to others. Some
landlords may have been stung by other tenants before; this will give them a
little extra protection and security. This only goes to show that we all need
to improve our credit ratings.
What will the landlord need from the tenant?
The landlord will ask the tenant to fill in an application of some sort
before these checks are done. The landlord will ask the tenant to provide the
following information:
- Employment details
- Income and outgoings
- Credit history
- Tenants social security number
- Driver license number if applicable
- Previous evictions or renting problems
- Previous Bankruptcies and debts
- References from previous landlords
The landlords will check all of this information through the tenant credit
checks so it makes no sense to lie on the forms filled in. The landlords are
also likely to check any references, so the tenant should always include a
current phone number or last known address for the previous landlord.
Is this fair to the tenant?
It may not sound fair as some tenants who have had previous debts and a bad
credit rating but can pay the rent and the bills may be discriminated
against. However, it is always worthwhile to look at this from the landlord’s
point of view. The landlord wants to put people in his properties, but he
also wants to put reliable and trustworthy people in as well. All the
landlord is doing is protecting his investment. The landlord does have to
abide by certain screening rules and he does have to give a fair screening to
all tenants. So even the tenant has a tenants credit check done and fails,
they may still be able to move in if they can provide other details to the
landlord.
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