A rental application is used by a rental property management company to screen prospective tenants. Questions about income and employment status, credit and past rental history, along with general personal character may be asked on the rental application. Financial information is obtained and verified through authorized account verification services, commonly a local consumer credit agency. A rental property management company manager that does his or her due diligence before entering into a rental agreement with a tenant can save literally thousands of dollars in lost rents, damages and legal fees for the landlord.A standard credit check will be run along with verification of pay-stubs and past rental history. Character is typically verified through references and cross-checked by a criminal record check through the courts, also usually conducted by a local credit agency and funded by the application fee charged to the tenant at the outset of the application process.
Application paperwork is generally written in standard boilerplate language which is often obtainable over the Internet or available on pre-printed forms from an office supply store or may be purchased online through Amazon or another source of office supplies. Often, larger property owners or management companies will use forms provided by their corporate attorneys. They will almost always collect the same information regarding finances, employment, identity of individuals residing at the premises and personal references.
Common Rental Property Management Application Questions
Typical questions are intended to provide the maximum information about a tenant’s identity, past history and current ability to pay rent over the long term. Thus, inquiries about rental history might be used to signify indicators about the tenant’s personal stability and habits, as would investigation about criminal behavior and indictments. Financial questions can be used to determine present ability to pay ongoing rent as well as to establish habits of responsibility and keeping financial commitments.
Being able to elicit responses to standard application questions should provide the information needed by the rental property management to establish the type of tenant being allowed to rent their property. As the rental property is one of the primary business assets related to the income of the rental property management, it is in their best interests to obtain as much proof as possible that the potential tenant will pay as obligated by the lease.
When the rental property management team is able to determine before a lease is signed that the tenant will pay rent on a timely basis; the company is able to save itself time and money over the course of the lease term. Careful screening of tenants using properly worded questions can help reveal information before a leasehold begins. Relying on time-tested application questions can save the rental property management a myriad of problems in the long run.
Son-Rise Property Management is a full service property management company located in Bellingham, WA. Contact us today to see how we can help you find the perfect home to rent or manage your property.
