November 1st, 2013
There are a lot of terrific tenants out there.
These tenants respect your property.
They respect you, the landlord, and appreciate the excellent property you are providing.
Rent is paid on time and any maintenance or other potential challenges are dealt with in a mature and a professional manner.
Being a residential landlord in Alberta can be a smart and profitable business decision.
Landlord Challenges
There can also be challenges. One look at the local newspaper can tell you that. Or watch the evening news.
Unfortunately we have seen more challenges for Alberta landlords in 2013.
What Type of Challenges?
1. This Rental Home is My Embassy
Last month we wrote about a landlady who rented to a tenant who declared the rental property ‘an embassy’ and refused to pay rent.
It took two years for the landlady to finally get her rental property back.
She rented to him on the recommendation of a friend.
She didn’t conduct a tenant credit check or a tenant criminal check.
2. Tenants Leave Racial Slurs and Property Damages
A Calgary landlord was going through the process to evict a couple of tenants for not paying rent.
When they finally were gone they left behind walls painted with racial insults against the landlord and thousands of dollars in damages.
The landlord didn’t didn’t conduct a tenant credit check or a tenant criminal check.
3. The Government Recommends a Tenant Who Trashes the Property
Government social housing recommend a tenant to a Calgary landlord who was holding an open house for his rental property. He accepted the tenant based on the government’s recommendation.
Months later his property was trashed.
The landlord trusted the government and didn’t conduct his own tenant credit check and tenant criminal check.
The Important of Tenant Screening
What is tenant screening?
It’s looking into a potential tenant’s background and discovering who they ‘really’ are.
The three landlords above trusted either what the tenant told them directly or a ‘recommendation’ from a friend or agency.
Tenant Credit Checks and Tenant Criminal Checks
The days of agreeing to hand over the keys on a handshake or a recommendation are over.
Smart landlords know a tenant credit check and a tenant criminal check don’ t lie.
Tenant credit checks will show you the real details on a prospective renter’s financial past.
Do they pay their bills on time? Do they have creditors after them? Do they have a history of bankruptcies?
Tenant Criminal checks will help you see the background of a potential renter to protect not only your property but other tenants who might share the building.
GARDA Back Screening Solutions
The Alberta Landlords Association is proud to cooperate with GARDA Background Screening Solutions.
GARDA is recognized as the most trusted and leading Canadian owned and operated provider of background screening solutions.
GARDA Background Screening Solutions can provide you with the vital information that is required to make informed business decisions.
They will provide you with timely and accurate information to make an informed decision on the risk level of any applicant,
Tenant Screening is more important than ever.
Make tenant credit checks and tenant criminal checks part of your tenant screening process.
Become a professional landlord and make sure you find the great tenants out there!