Checking On Tenants
- Thread starter Glucose
- Start date
Glucose,
Have them fill out a privacy form that will let you approach your local property manager and have them do a check on TICA etc. to see if they have been blacklisted. I got my form from the local PM. They will probably charge you $50 or so to do the search.
I also do not pay much attention to the current landlord/PM's references as they might lie to you just so that they can get a bad tenant off their hands.
When ringing PM references find out specific dates and addresses of properties they were living in and then have the personal references verify this without you divulging the information. Try to catch them out lying as many tenants give fake PM references. You may want to ignore the phone number you where given and look up the PM/s number in the telephone book in case they gave you a number of a friend.
Make sure you account for 100% of the last 5 years of their lives. I would be very suspicious if they had a year missing they didn't mention.
Don't worry about knocking back applications just because you want to get a tenant in asap and be wary about tenants offering more than market rent as there might be a reason behind this.
But at the end of the day always go with your gut instincts unless there are obvious reasons not to.
Hope this helps.
Have them fill out a privacy form that will let you approach your local property manager and have them do a check on TICA etc. to see if they have been blacklisted. I got my form from the local PM. They will probably charge you $50 or so to do the search.
I also do not pay much attention to the current landlord/PM's references as they might lie to you just so that they can get a bad tenant off their hands.
When ringing PM references find out specific dates and addresses of properties they were living in and then have the personal references verify this without you divulging the information. Try to catch them out lying as many tenants give fake PM references. You may want to ignore the phone number you where given and look up the PM/s number in the telephone book in case they gave you a number of a friend.
Make sure you account for 100% of the last 5 years of their lives. I would be very suspicious if they had a year missing they didn't mention.
Don't worry about knocking back applications just because you want to get a tenant in asap and be wary about tenants offering more than market rent as there might be a reason behind this.
But at the end of the day always go with your gut instincts unless there are obvious reasons not to.
Hope this helps.
Hi P,
The landlord's association in Adelaide subscribe to TICA and you can use their subscription to do a search for $10 if you are a member. Cost's $50 to be a member for the year. May be worth considering if you are managing your own properties. If you are using a pm, they should do it for free as part of their management services.
Glucose,
A few things we do
1.We get in contact with the PM they had 2 properties ago. they have nothing to loose by telling the truth.
2.Check photo ID, so they are who they say they are.
3.Make sure they have proof of residence,ie ,gas elect bill with their name on it.
4.On the application form we ask if they would allow us to do an internal inspection of the property that they are in now. We never have but you soon work out which ones have something to hide.
5.Always do a drive by of their existing rental. Once, one applicant on the short list had car bodies on the front 2ft grass.
6.The cost of the rent shouldn't be more than 30% of their total household income, if its is you will probably be asking for problems. When something goes wrong for them, ie car, it will effect the rent payments.
7.Allow pets on the application, almost everyone has pets, but now you can choose between a budgie or 5 great danes,10 cats and a ferrett.
Regards Bushy
A few things we do
1.We get in contact with the PM they had 2 properties ago. they have nothing to loose by telling the truth.
2.Check photo ID, so they are who they say they are.
3.Make sure they have proof of residence,ie ,gas elect bill with their name on it.
4.On the application form we ask if they would allow us to do an internal inspection of the property that they are in now. We never have but you soon work out which ones have something to hide.
5.Always do a drive by of their existing rental. Once, one applicant on the short list had car bodies on the front 2ft grass.
6.The cost of the rent shouldn't be more than 30% of their total household income, if its is you will probably be asking for problems. When something goes wrong for them, ie car, it will effect the rent payments.
7.Allow pets on the application, almost everyone has pets, but now you can choose between a budgie or 5 great danes,10 cats and a ferrett.
Regards Bushy
Thanks for the advice everyone. What about the other way around? I've had a really bad tenant & thought I really would like other landlords to know about him, but know not how to do so. You could just say he then becomes someone else's problem, but I would like to think it's possible to spare a new landlord the pain.
Here's how I like to vet tenants, works for me.
Request the tenant's current and previous rent record.
The tenant's rent record at their current property tells of any arrears and shows a pattern. "Reason for wanting this property" can be revealing.
Ask TICA directly for a subscription as a professional investor.
Tenants who have a rent record printout and who have rented recently from a REA are easier to vet than those who rented from a private landlord.
Many bad tenants hide their poor rental history by claiming they rented privately and a friend covers for them claiming to have rented them a property for the last 3 years and they were great tenants. I never accept private rentals as a reference, preferring to wait for an ex-REA tenant.
Get a tenancy application form from a few local agents and use them yourself to vet tenants.
Tenant completes application form.
Request and Photocopy rego papers, licence, phone bill, elec bill, gas bill, medicare card, bank statement. Get whatever you can. Everyone has at least 3 of the above.
Check all phone numbers listed by applicant against phone book listings and do not accept refs at silent numbers or on mobile phones.
Minimum 100 pts ID for the applicant or no consideration of the application.
Ring all refs and ask their relationship and what the tenant does for a job and for how long and where they live now.
Confirm income, job description and duration with employer.
Look inside their car, that's probably what your property will end up looking like.
Reject applications which are sketchy, don't add up, or on the first lie.
good luck
cheers
crest133
Request the tenant's current and previous rent record.
The tenant's rent record at their current property tells of any arrears and shows a pattern. "Reason for wanting this property" can be revealing.
Ask TICA directly for a subscription as a professional investor.
Tenants who have a rent record printout and who have rented recently from a REA are easier to vet than those who rented from a private landlord.
Many bad tenants hide their poor rental history by claiming they rented privately and a friend covers for them claiming to have rented them a property for the last 3 years and they were great tenants. I never accept private rentals as a reference, preferring to wait for an ex-REA tenant.
Get a tenancy application form from a few local agents and use them yourself to vet tenants.
Tenant completes application form.
Request and Photocopy rego papers, licence, phone bill, elec bill, gas bill, medicare card, bank statement. Get whatever you can. Everyone has at least 3 of the above.
Check all phone numbers listed by applicant against phone book listings and do not accept refs at silent numbers or on mobile phones.
Minimum 100 pts ID for the applicant or no consideration of the application.
Ring all refs and ask their relationship and what the tenant does for a job and for how long and where they live now.
Confirm income, job description and duration with employer.
Look inside their car, that's probably what your property will end up looking like.
Reject applications which are sketchy, don't add up, or on the first lie.
good luck
cheers
crest133
Glucose,
The best ways to hold a bad tenant accountable for their actions are:
1. Obtain a judgement against them - not just bond release, a full judgement for all damages incurred by them. This will then be on the public record, and some organisations track all residential court hearings participants.
2. Pursue the judgement - do this yourself (quite time consuming) or hand over to a debt collector. You will need to find one that specialises in small debt recovery, many organisations wont be interested in sub $5000 judgements.
3. Lodge the tenant on any databases you have access to - for starters, NTD, TICA and your local landlords association.
And assuming the tenants have skipped and you have no contact details:
4. Dig out their application form and start calling their parents to ask for their address - most tenants hate it when you call their parents about their debt.
5. Ditto for their employers, friends, etc.
Regards, Burbs.
The best ways to hold a bad tenant accountable for their actions are:
1. Obtain a judgement against them - not just bond release, a full judgement for all damages incurred by them. This will then be on the public record, and some organisations track all residential court hearings participants.
2. Pursue the judgement - do this yourself (quite time consuming) or hand over to a debt collector. You will need to find one that specialises in small debt recovery, many organisations wont be interested in sub $5000 judgements.
3. Lodge the tenant on any databases you have access to - for starters, NTD, TICA and your local landlords association.
And assuming the tenants have skipped and you have no contact details:
4. Dig out their application form and start calling their parents to ask for their address - most tenants hate it when you call their parents about their debt.
5. Ditto for their employers, friends, etc.
Regards, Burbs.
I hate bad tenants, I should know, I used to be one...
