When renting out your house, you want to make sure that your renters are  responsible. Not only is this a source of income for your family, but for many, it was your first home. The last thing any landlord wants is for the sweet memories made in the home to be tainted by a trashed house due to an irresponsible tenant.  

In order to keep your house in pristine condition, it’s important to find renters that can be trusted. The best way to do this is through running a Background Check. 

How to Run A Background Check

The most important thing to remember when running a background check is to obtain consent. Once consent is given, then a background check can be run. Most background checks are tied together with the housing application. The application usually has a fee from $25-$50 to cover the costs running the background check and processing the application.

If you are renting out the property yourself, there are several sites that can be used to run background checks such as:

• TurboTenant
• Rent Spree
• AOA 

If you are going through a property management group, such as Ferguson Property Management, we will run a rigorous background screening to ensure that you receive the best possible tenant. 

What Will The Background Check Look For?

There is a long list of items that a background check will look for:

• Personal Information, such as name, date of birth, SSN, current address, income, etc.
• Employment History
• Credit Score
• Tradelines & Collections
• Eviction Records
• AKAs, or “Also Known As”
• Consumer Statements
• Inquiries

The most important items that the background covers are personal information, credit, eviction, and employment. While all of the information listed is important, these 4 items will highlight either the “red flags” or green flags” on the tenant. 

We Will Make it Easy

With so many sites out there, you would think that running a background check would be a piece of cake. The problem is, there may be too many options and they are all time consuming. With Ferguson PM, all of the heavy lifting is done by us and the check is automatically deposited into your bank. Ready to learn more? We’ve made it easy with our Free Informational Guide. Download it today.