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33rd Company News

Professional Tenant Screening in Minnesota - Landlord Education

Tom Sedlack - Sunday, November 30, 2014

One of the biggest and most important things that a good management company in Minneapolis can do for you is to properly screen tenants.

Remember that your home is one of your greatest assets and you are entrusting an individual with your multi-hundred thousand dollar asset. Screening is critical and you have to make sure you find the most responsible adults to rent your property. When 33rd Company® performs tenant screening, we do a lot more than just look at a credit score. We look under every rock with a 100 point check on everything from credit and income to criminal history.

Credit


When we screen for credit, we look for someone who has a responsible credit history. Instead of just looking at the individual credit score, like some discount management companies, we examine the entire file and everything that makes up a payment history. We look at NSFs, PL write offs, bankruptcies, foreclosures and payment histories – we want to know if they pay their water bill on time.

Income


Income must be at least three times the rent. That’s the highest national standard to ensure people have enough disposable income for their rental needs and it’s what we use at 33rd Company® as a baseline screening criteria.

Criminal


Criminal background checks are important and anything above and beyond a misdemeanor is going to be a problem. You don’t want people who are not fundamentally responsible in your property. If they don’t meet their obligations contractually or personally, you don’t want them as tenants. That’s why a criminal check is done. We also do a national data archive check for sex offenders, and also check the State and National Meth lab database. Screening for those issues has become very important.

Tenant Guarantee


When we screen so carefully, we are confident that we’ve found the best tenant possible. At 33rd Company®, we have a one year tenant guarantee, which is the longest guarantee that is available nationally. We stand behind the tenants we place.

When we do a screening, it’s a discrepancy-based screen. We don’t just look at a credit score and make a lazy decision. We know that we will be stuck with that tenant for a year or more, so we do a serious screen to make sure they are responsible.

Tenancy is the most important decision to make when renting a home. Rental price is the second most important decision. You don’t want to raise your rent and lower your standards because the only tenants who will be willing to pay rent that’s too high are tenants who have been rejected for other properties. Maintain your high standards and don’t worry about your rent prices. Responsible adults expect a discount when it comes to finding rental properties and you should provide that because in return, they will stay longer and take better care of the home. Our average tenancy at 33rd Company® is three years. A longer tenancy will bring you better cash flow.

Set a high bar and you’ll successfully place tenants. Last year, we had an eviction rate that was less than a half percent. That means that 99.5 percent of our properties had successful tenancies. A lot of our success is due to excellent screening practices, good customer services, and great maintenance services.   Approximately 80% of our first year tenants renew their leases – saving Owners releasing fees, turnover costs, and vacancies.   This is why having the best property manager is better than having a discount property manager.

If you have any questions or you’d like to hear more, please contact us at 33rd Company® and we’d love to talk with you.

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