All landlords seek to find ideal tenants; tenants who are responsible, pay their rent on time, and treat your property with respect. Once you get the wrong tenants in your rental property, it's not easy, and can be quite expensive getting them out, not to mention repairing any damage they may have caused. So how do we make sure we're properly evaluating our prospects?
An application is necessary
You can do an initial telephone screening at the outset. Inquire about the number of people who would reside in the unit. Landlords can ask about employments status, if there will be pets, and other things, but a lot of the time the prospective tenant will voluntarily mention these things in the conversation. A viewing of the rental property can be arranged once the initial telephone screening is completed satisfactorily. If there is a lot of interest in the home, you may want to set up viewing times, on specific evenings.
A full length application form should be filled out for people who are interested in your rental unit. Each province has Human Rights codes that must be followed during screening, but the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation does suggest that after these are covered, a landlord should inquire as to a prospective tenant's suitability for the rental property. Some of the questions that can be asked are related to a tenant's income amount, employment status, if they smoke, people residing on the property and their names, and if they have pets.
Things that are not allowed to be asked are religion or ethnic background, sexual preference, for their social insurance number, marital status, or if they plan on having more children, and if family will be visiting.
Don't rush through the application process even if you want to rent your unit quickly, background checks must be followed up on. When you put in some work at this time, it can pay off a great deal in the future. Make sure that there is a release on your rental form that allows you to check up on the prospective tenant by contacting former landlords, credit bureaus, and current employers. After the form is completed, you can't assume all of the data on it is accurate. Be sure to actually talk to former landlords and employers.
Landlords in Canada can contact Equifax Canada or Trans Union Canada for credit checks after obtaining consent from the prospective tenant. You can also contact Rent Check Credit Bureau, a credit bureau strictly for the housing industry.
Employment: Contact the prospective tenant's employer to confirm their employment status. What is the length of their employment? What is their current position? How many hours do they work? How much is their salary?
References and rental history: Check any references provided. Obtain information to contact their previous landlord, and when possible, the last 2 or 3 landlords of your prospective tenant. When did they live in your rental property? How long did they live there? Were they late paying the rent? Were there pets in the unit? Was the home damaged, beyond normal wear and tear? Did they give you proper notice when they were moving out? Would you rent another unit to this person?
An application is necessary
You can do an initial telephone screening at the outset. Inquire about the number of people who would reside in the unit. Landlords can ask about employments status, if there will be pets, and other things, but a lot of the time the prospective tenant will voluntarily mention these things in the conversation. A viewing of the rental property can be arranged once the initial telephone screening is completed satisfactorily. If there is a lot of interest in the home, you may want to set up viewing times, on specific evenings.
A full length application form should be filled out for people who are interested in your rental unit. Each province has Human Rights codes that must be followed during screening, but the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation does suggest that after these are covered, a landlord should inquire as to a prospective tenant's suitability for the rental property. Some of the questions that can be asked are related to a tenant's income amount, employment status, if they smoke, people residing on the property and their names, and if they have pets.
Things that are not allowed to be asked are religion or ethnic background, sexual preference, for their social insurance number, marital status, or if they plan on having more children, and if family will be visiting.
Don't rush through the application process even if you want to rent your unit quickly, background checks must be followed up on. When you put in some work at this time, it can pay off a great deal in the future. Make sure that there is a release on your rental form that allows you to check up on the prospective tenant by contacting former landlords, credit bureaus, and current employers. After the form is completed, you can't assume all of the data on it is accurate. Be sure to actually talk to former landlords and employers.
Landlords in Canada can contact Equifax Canada or Trans Union Canada for credit checks after obtaining consent from the prospective tenant. You can also contact Rent Check Credit Bureau, a credit bureau strictly for the housing industry.
Employment: Contact the prospective tenant's employer to confirm their employment status. What is the length of their employment? What is their current position? How many hours do they work? How much is their salary?
References and rental history: Check any references provided. Obtain information to contact their previous landlord, and when possible, the last 2 or 3 landlords of your prospective tenant. When did they live in your rental property? How long did they live there? Were they late paying the rent? Were there pets in the unit? Was the home damaged, beyond normal wear and tear? Did they give you proper notice when they were moving out? Would you rent another unit to this person?
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