How to Run a Credit Check to Lease a Home
As a landlord, it is your duty to ensure that the people you are allowing to live on your property are trustworthy and responsible---you must protect your interests. When you are leasing an entire home, the need to research your prospective tenants is magnified. One step that you must take is to run a credit history check. It will tell you the candidate's credit worthiness and record of past problems with his living arrangements and can give you an idea of his character.
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Things You'll Need
- Lease application
- Credit check release form
- Online credit check service
Instructions
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Draft a lease application. Ask for the candidate's name, current address, phone number, Social Security number, employer information and income information. Ask for information about anyone else who will be living in the house as well, like children. Ask direct questions about the applicant's background and character on the lease application as well. For instance, you can ask if he has been convicted of a crime or if he has ever been evicted.
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Create a credit check release form also, which authorizes you to run a credit check. Have a lawyer review the paperwork if at all possible to ensure that the language is consistent with state laws. (See "Resources" for an example of both an application and release form.)
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Ask the candidate to fill out the application and release form after she sees the house and expresses a serious interest.
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Request a non-refundable application fee from the prospective lessee to cover the credit check, which will cost about $20 to $30.
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Sign up for a service like e-renter.com or tenantscreening.com. Create an account and give information about your landlord business.
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Submit a credit credit check request. Fax or email the credit check release form to the service so they can verify that you are authorized to see this information.
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Retrieve the credit history online or via email (account numbers will be hidden for privacy). This could be available in as little as an hour from the time your request is received, depending on the service.
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Tips & Warnings
Pay special attention to any information regarding a recent foreclosure (within the past few years) on the candidate's record. If he couldn't afford payments to the mortgage company and his employment situation is the same, he may not be able to maintain the lease payments on your house.
