33rd Company News

Did you know that nearly 80 million Americans have a criminal record?

These could be people that you least expect. However, those people need somewhere to live and may try to apply as a tenant for your rental property.

This is where a tenant criminal background check comes in.

Why is this important? Here are five of the biggest reasons.

1. Stable Income

A big reason you should look at this is to see if your rental income will be impacted. If someone has a recent crime on their record, that may make it more difficult for them to get a job.

As a result, that could mean that they do not have nearly as much income coming in at the moment. When that happens, it could put consistent rent payments from a tenant at risk.

Try to avoid this and run a background check to get a better grasp of the situation.

2. Nature of the Crime

Another thing you want to look for is what type of crime this person committed. Depending on the nature of the crime, you and the other tenants may not feel comfortable having this person around.

Did this person commit rape? How about a violent crime? What about petty theft?

A background check can provide answers to this. From there, you can decide what to do about it.

3. Risk Assessment

Running a background check allows you to perform some sort of risk assessment for a potential tenant. If you discover a criminal record, you have to weigh the risk of them doing something like this again under your watch.

Have they gained new employment since the crime? Have they gone to therapy or other rehabilitation courses? Do they have anyone who can vouch for their change of behavior?

All of these things can help give you a better idea of how likely it is someone will commit another crime.

4. Past Evictions

This process may help with tenant screening because it can bring up past evictions a potential tenant may have had. This may have been because of rent issues or violating other terms that the landlord had.

You can make a note of this and talk to past landlords for more details. Then, they can tell you what led to that eviction.

5. Knowing Your Tenant

Finally, a criminal background check allows you to get a better idea of who your tenant is. The things you may find on there may be difficult for somebody to be forthright about.

If you find it on your own, that can be an opportunity to discover who this person truly is. You can talk about this with them face-to-face to see if they have truly learned anything from their past experience.

Conduct a Tenant Criminal Background Check

These are five of the biggest reasons you need to conduct a tenant criminal background check. It allows you to weigh the risks of a tenant and gives you a better idea of who you're renting to.

For this, you can turn to 33rd Company Property Management. We perform services like tenant screenings and keep evictions down to a minimum.

For more information, message us here.