TENANT SCREENING

Speaker 1 [00:00:04] One of the great things about Wolfnest is that we actually have an applications team, when a tenant submits an application, we're not waiting on one of our other managers or the leasing manager to actually get that application pushed through. 

[00:00:19] We've got a team that's dedicated to handling all of the application processing, making sure they're done quickly, but also correctly, because that's obviously very important. So our goal, again, is to minimize vacancy in between those tenants. But at the same time, we're not in a rush to place a bad tenant. 

[00:00:39] When we are screening tenants, we are going to be abiding by Utah fair housing laws. There is no discrimination to race, religion, sexual orientation, familial status, anything like that. And really how we operate as a first come first serve basis, which really drives, you know, a little bit of competition with prospective tenants. We tell them that, hey, you know, get your application in quick. Whoever gets that security deposit in, we're going to lock in that first position and then start that screening process. So it's really a great way to, again, build some excitement around a property and really push tenants to try to get their applications in as quickly as possible. 

[00:01:20] Now, looking at our process. It's an eight step credit and background screening, so anyone over the age of 18 is going to have to fill out an application and really go through these checks. So what does that mean? 

[00:01:33] First thing we are going to be doing is a criminal background check, really looking for anything, you know, drug or violence related. We're also going to do a nationwide eviction check. I don't want to see -  if they haven't been evicted here in Utah, but they had an eviction in 1999 in North Dakota, we're going to see that, and that's going to be a automatic disqualifier for us. 

[00:01:55] Next thing that we're going to do is a sex offender registry check. Again that's going to be nationwide. We're also going to be doing a credit report. So we don't really have a set number as far as, oh, we're only going to accept applications with 750 or higher.  Because of the screening process, you're looking at everything for that tenant. You know, sometimes tenants, maybe they're international or they just don't have credit cards or really a credit score, not a good one or a bad one, but they just don't have any credit. That's not always a bad thing. So we're going to look at, you know, a couple of things, not just that credit score, but obviously it's a big one. And if we see that maybe the credit score isn't where we want it to be, we may have them have a cosigner on that lease. That way, we know we have someone with a great credit score on the hook in case there is any damage. 

[00:02:49] We're also going to be looking at their application like a bank underwrites a loan. So we're looking at payment history and collections accounts. Any liens. These are all things that are going to affect them paying rent and again, are usually going to be a disqualifier for us. Three times the monthly rental rate. That's another one that we want to see, not for one individual, but as a collective household. So, again, three times that monthly rental rate. That's usually a good rule of thumb for us. 

[00:03:16] We're also going to be verifying income and employment, especially with COVID. And there's a lot of, you know, layoffs or furloughs. And we want to make sure that, you know, not only looking at recent income, but we want to make sure that that's going to be consistent and something that, you know, we're not going to see a reduction in hours or maybe a commission based pay stub. OK, we want to make sure that this would be consistent income. 

[00:03:39] We're also going to be looking at the rental history. Now, this is a tough one, especially with our portfolio. A lot of our properties are, you know, single family homes or townhomes, and the actual tenants are more of a pedigree of a buyer or they haven't rented in years. However, if they have rented and they're qualified, I would say references like someone part of the Utah Apartment Association or another property management company. Yes, we are going to be following up with those references and see if they were great tenants, how did they leave the property when they left. Would they rent to them again is always a good question. Like to ask. 

[00:04:13] And then finally, we have the best eviction attorney really in the state. He handles about 80 percent of the eviction case workload and has been doing it for 20 plus years. So we put every applicant through his database, which is pretty extensive, just to see, okay, if they were a bad tenant, maybe they didn't get evicted, but they were a headache tenant for another management company or someone that used his services or his firm, that's going to be a disqualifier for us. So, again, these are just some of the things that we do when we're screening tenants. 

[00:04:44] I'd love to talk about this in a little bit more depth with you and see if we can be a good fit for you. So, again, it's Ryan, with Wolfnest and here on my contact information and I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks.