Three Ways Tenant Screening Improves Your Neighborhood

As active stewards of your community, you have the ability to positively impact the quality of life within your neighborhood - not just through your involvement and leadership, but also through protective services that you can recommend to fellow homeowners.

Reviewing the criminal and credit background of prospective renters online is one of the quickest and easiest ways to reduce potential crime, property damage and other rental issues within your neighborhood. So with web-based tenant screening resources readily available, why don't more homeowners conduct applicant background checks before renting out their property?

The unfortunate answer is most individual property owners don't know they can legally and easily review a prospective renter's criminal and credit background with www.Landlord2landlord.com before making a leasing decision. Here are the top three ways tenant screening improves your neighborhood:

1. Improve Neighborhood Safety: Know Your New Neighbor

The old adage "You can't judge a book by its cover" still stands true. Stories abound of the "guy next door" who surprised everyone with their unknown past or illicit actions. As more people move across the country for work, family and other reasons, personal referrals are harder to verify and are challenging to complete. Unfortunately, though, criminals also have a habit of moving to leave behind their past.

With online tenant verification services, you can instantly verify the individual is who they say they are, and also check county courthouse records, state and national criminal databases (including sex offender registries) to see if they have a criminal record. Individual credit reports and eviction records can be checked as well.

2. Protect Neighborhood Appearance, Property Value and Your Investment

Tenant screening adds a layer of risk management for property owners by offering a financial snapshot of your prospective renter. Most landlords spend less than $45 to check an applicant's background before making a leasing decision, which is FAR less than a property owner might lose in unpaid rent and property damages. Landlords typically pass this cost on to the prospective tenant as a rental application fee. And, in the event that a renter does fail to pay on a timely basis, many online screeners also offer collection and bad debt reporting services to help ensure the fraudster doesn't get away scott-free.

3. Build a Better Sense of Community: Reduce Rental Turnover

Evaluating prospective renters reduces the odds of having to replace that renter sooner than expected, which lowers the amount of work you have to do to manage your rental property. In turn, fewer people will be moving in and out of the neighborhood, giving everyone a better chance to get to know each other and grow as a community.

Check Your Renters' Criminal and Credit Background Today!
The overall positive impact of tenant screening has led a growing number of homeowner and neighborhood associations to enact rules requiring background checks on renters within the community. Whether you are considering this option or not, Landlord2Landlord considers it a privilege to assist you in making your neighborhood a safer place. 

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About Landlord2Landlord
Landlord2Landlord (http://www.landlord2landlord.com/) is a residential tenant screening company that partners with property management companies and homeowner associations to help communities reduce neighborhood crime, and to protect homeowners from renters with criminal backgrounds or a history of evictions and poor credit. 

Our website is easy to use, available 24 hours per day, and delivers instant, inexpensive results that comply with FCRA and Fair Housing Act requirements.  See our Success Stories at http://www.landlord2landlord.com/SuccessStories2.aspx.

We also have a free monthly e-newsletter that contains information to help homeowners maintain and lease their residential properties more effectively.  To receive the e-newsletter, please visit http://www.landlord2landlord.com/ezinesignup.aspx.