If you are a landlord, you know how lucrative and exciting it can be to collect rent. If you are experienced, then you already know that the greatest assets to a landlord are great tenants who always pay on time. The opposite is also true. A landlords life can be greatly complicated and can quickly spiral out of control if they are not careful about whom they are renting their building to. There are a few key reasons and tips that every landlord can benefit from when finding out exactly whom they are renting to. The most powerful weapon of the wise landlord is a background check. A background check of many types can be supplied by a number of firms which specialize in collecting the information which paint a valid picture of a person's background, most specifically their criminal background. As a landlord, it is important from the business perspective that you know exactly whom you are entrusting your building with. A horrible tenant can lead to damage of any type, as well as lost profits. The landlord is also responsible from a moral perspective to make sure the person he is making the neighbor of his other tenants isn't a predator. Criminals of all types exist, and there is no guarantee the person who is applying to rent your building isn't a registered sex offender. It is pertinent that you protect your other tenants and society at large by not exposing people under your care to unnecessary risks, like those associated with allowing a known child abuser to move in beside a family with children. Along with criminal background checks, there are other screening methods that should be employed by the shrewd landlord. One type of screening of particular relevance is screening for people who have bad credit or have a history of moving out before paying their rent. These bits of information can be gleaned from credit and social security checks. Screening to exclude high risk tenants will pay significant dividends in the end, by avoiding lost profits associated with unsavory and dishonest tenants. Background checks, social security screening, and credit history checks are all very valuable tools in the arsenal of the landlord who wants to run his business with as much efficiency and profits as possible. Being a landlord is not the easiest job in the world, but it can be made much safer and risk free with a bit of planning and the use of all the information gathering techniques which are at the disposal of the landlord-most significantly, background screening.
