We do all the normal screening stuff such as CCAP, proof of income, proof of current address, requiring a government issued picture ID – without an ID they can give you any name and all of your screening will fail, etc.
When it looks like a tenant is acceptable on paper, then we break out our super tool: A home visit to their listed current address without an appointment. (If you set an appointment they will be at mom’s house to meet you)
We reject close to one in four with this final step. They don’t live there, a couple of times the address they gave was a vacant lot, they have a pit bull larger than my manager, all the screens are pushed out from the inside, the yard and house is less clean and orderly than the local dump, there is no furniture, just a flop house for druggies, etc.
Your application needs to let the applicants know in advance you will be doing this. Our language in bold at the end of the authorization to pull credit and talk to prior landlords is:
” I understand that Affordable Rental Associates, LLC will verify my current residence in person”