How A Landlord Will Screen New Tenants
Are you currently looking for a new apartment, but wondering how you will be screened before you are allowed to sign a lease? If so, it helps to know what landlords look for when screening their tenants.
They Look For Completed Applications
The first thing that a potential landlord is going to look for is a complete application. Are there things missing that would be considered a red flag, such as references? A landlord may look into these things more closely to see why you may not have filled out the information. This is especially true if you do not have any rental history. While you may honestly not have rented an apartment before, a bigger concern is when potential tenants try to hide previous rental experiences where they would not have a good reference.
They Verify Who You Are
There are several ways that a landlord will verify who you actually are. If this is done by the landlord itself, it could be as simple as requiring a photo ID, some sort of pay stub to verify employment, and things of that nature. However, they may outsource this process to another company to handle for them. These outsourced tenant verification tend to be very in depth, since they will track down your actual rental history, your credit report, and any criminal background information that is available. That is why it's important to know that hiding the information during the application process may do more harm than good if it is discovered during verification.
They Score Your Application
So many aspects of screening a tenant are based on intangible information that is hard to measure. That is why some landlords will actually give you a score so that they know how you compare to other potential tenants. It is possible that this score will ultimately determine if you are approved to rent the apartment, if you will need additional qualifications, or if your application will be denied. Assigning a score also makes the process fair for landlords, since they have evidence of how they are using fair housing guidelines to either qualify or disqualify tenants from renting their property.
For example, not having a long employment history may count against you, and require a larger security deposit before you can rent the apartment. A history or not paying rent can also affect your score more than other factors, as well as a criminal history on your public record.
For more information on apartment rentals, contact your agent for luxury apartment rentals in Louisvuille, KY.