The Necessity of Tenant Screening
Currently, much of the buzz surrounding background checks
pertains not only to pre-employment screening, but to tenant screening as well.
News stories detailing horror stories of bad tenants are becoming more common
these days, confirming the necessity of tenant screenings.
For example, in November of last year, Beverly Ginsburg decided
to rent out her Pasadena home to a mother and daughter “who needed help getting
back on their feet.” Although Ginsburg had the tenants sign a lease, she did
not have them fill out a rental application and did not do a background check
on them. Ginsburg trusted the tenants, thinking the pair was “a nice Jewish
woman with a daughter and a cute dog.” However, she soon learned that the
tenants were not as they seemed. She says the tenants were “con artists”
and “knew exactly what they wanted” when they moved into her house. Ginsburg
says the tenants stole personal items from her including a computer, cell
phone and her keys and that the tenants displayed aggressive behavior
towards her. She says the tenants would clog the toilet, causing the
bathroom to flood. They would then call the police and accuse Ginsburg of “not
supplying water to them.”
In the 26 short days that the tenants occupied Ginsburg's home, the police were called to her home a total of 18 times. She later hired
a private investigator to help her evict the tenants, but luckily, the tenants eventually
moved out on their own. Ginsburg later learned that the tenants had done the
same thing to another woman several years earlier.
Last month, the Huffington Post published another horror
story of a bad tenant. The article tells the story of an experienced and
successful property manager, whom the article refers to as “Janet” to protect
her identity, who was scammed by a tenant several years back. Under pressure to
rent out a condo, Janet found “an eager and polite government contractor” who
was interested. She failed to run a full background check and credit report,
choosing instead to do an “express screening.” She accepted the credit report
the applicant gave her which he obtained from a free credit report website and
called his employer, who confirmed his employment with them. She had the
applicant sign the lease, and after collecting checks for first month’s rent
and the security deposit, gave the tenant the keys. The tenant moved in a few
days before his lease started, having already been given the keys.
The checks soon bounced and as a result, the tenant wrote
two more checks from a different bank account, which also bounced. Janet met
with a bank manager and “discovered that the tenant had four open checking
accounts at that bank, each with a balance less than ten cents.” Janet tried to
remove the tenant and the police were called. However, the police would not
act, telling her that she needed to take her case to eviction court. Two months
later, Janet was prepared to face the tenant in court. However, minutes before
the court appointment, the tenant sent Janet a text stating, “I’ve moved out,
you’ll never find me.” Janet won the eviction judgement, but discovered the
tenant had flooded the condo, ruining the hardwood floors. She lost her
client and was left with a damaged reputation. Janet now runs more thorough
background checks and credit reports using online services.
These two stories may serve as cautionary tales for
landlords, property managers, real estate agents and other individuals who
interact with tenants. These two situations could have been avoided had the
property managers run a more thorough and extensive background check on the
tenant(s).
The full articles can be found here:
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Homeowner-Nightmare-Pasadena-Renter-290619921.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gino-zahnd/how-this-landlord-fell-fo_b_7797060.html
