Are You Sure?

Another short tip for you. When you have a tenant applying, it never hurts to have them provide picture ID so you can confirm that you have the right person.

In today’s age of identity theft, criminals renting properties and turning them into grow-ops and meth labs and who knows what else as far as illegal scams go, confirming identities can help thwart some potential headaches.

It only takes a minute and you can then verify you have the correct last name, spelling and often even confirm their date of birth if that is a requirement on your applications (and it should be!).

Advanced Step

I operate a group of furnished shared accommodation properties. These properties are weekly rentals and require very minimal screening. With the minimal screening comes some additional headaches.

In my situation I have some techniques I use to pre-screen tenants, but they are not infallible. By only advertising these properties online I tend to get people educated enough to use computers. By charging higher rates than the low end properties out there, I avoid the majority of the alcoholics and addicts with minimal funds.

There are also several other techniques I use to help make this work efficiently for me. One of them includes checking into the local most wanted listings.

My particular city has a listing that gets updated every week to include the current “at large” criminals and every week I try to take a look to see if I recognize any current or former tenants. I also use this to potentially screen any incoming tenants I might meet.