Proper and accurate tenant screening is essential and of enormous importance. Both landlord and owner do not want to be saddled with a crook who ultimately does not pay the rent collections at all and runs off with the heavens. As a landlord, you also don't want the risk of, for example, a hemp grower who leaves his home severely damaged, damp and polluted once the harvest has taken place. Expert and extensive research into prospective tenants can prevent much misery in advance. Excesses occur in every industry and unfortunately cannot be completely ruled out. Some risk is part of making an investment with a return. However, City Estate is convinced that a good and careful preparation before the conclusion of the lease is very important.
Renting out homes is lucrative and can generate a substantial return. However, it is important to identify the additional risks beforehand. Below we have listed some of the risks you should take into account.
- Tenant may neglect or damage property
- Tenant can break the law by, for example, operating a hemp farm
- Tenant may cause nuisance towards nearby / neighbors
- Tenant may run into financial difficulties that result in rent not being paid (on time)
Tenant and landlord enter into a rental agreement with each other that in most cases is entered into for a longer term. It is nice to know that the other party can be trusted and will fulfill their obligations. Extensive screening of a candidate tenant in advance helps to gain this trust.
First contact with tenant
City Estate has contact with prospective tenants even before the actual lease is signed. As soon as a property comes up for rent, prospective tenants will come forward. In most cases, that will be a moment to start the first check of this candidate tenant. Based on the first and last name, information can be gathered through public sources on the Internet (e.g. Google, LinkedIn, Facebook or other social media). Discussing the requirements with prospective tenant by phone can also be useful to get acquainted briefly and form an image of a person.
Providing documents and data
When the first contact with the candidate tenant is positive, this person can be invited for a viewing round. This is also an important moment for City Estate to find out whether there is a match with the candidate tenant. If the candidate tenant is interested and we are positive, more data will have to be supplied. Data we want to receive are:
- ID data
- Income information (at least 3 recent pay stubs)
- Landlord Statement
- Contact information in case of emergencies
- In case of a temporary lease: backup address
We can then start checking the data provided by the candidate tenant. City Estate cooperates with Huurcheck Nederland to carry out the screening as extensively as possible. Besides this cooperation, we also do a check ourselves. The employer is called, pay slips are checked and compared and it is important to check the cumulative. The former landlord is also called by means of the landlord declaration. These phone calls can reveal whether the 'paper reality' really corresponds to the actual reality.
Selection of tenant
In the end, if the supplied data is correct, the conditions are met and our partner Huurcheck Nederland gives a positive result, the candidate tenant will receive the rental agreement. As mentioned earlier, this screening will never give a 100% guarantee of no hassle. However, we have minimized the risk of hassle by means of an extensive screening process. Are you curious what City Estate can do for you? Are you currently dealing with a bad tenant and would you like to explore the possibilities? Then contact us without obligation!