How to Screen Tenants?

[argos]

Are there any good seminars/books to help landlords find good tenants and how to deal with problem tenants shall the problem arise? Also, what are some things that should be done in writing to protect the landlord.

Any property management classes/courses available for small landlords to successfully manage rental properties? Preferablly, Ontario-specific, because i know the Tenancy Act varies from provinces.

Any info would help. Thanks in advance!

 

[cabbagetowner]

one thing i learned early on was to trust your instincts. you can't trust everything you read on an application and everyone can find a reference to say something nice about them. getting the right tenant makes all the difference in the world. you also need to price your unit so that you can attract a number of tenants to choose from. good luck.

 

[Devils Advocate]

How to Screen Tenants ?

You might consider trying the Community Colleges with regard to real estate courses as they used to have courses for real estate agents on property management and I believe they still do. The Ontario Real Estate Association may be able to advise where such courses are available and the related fees.

There are numerous laws that must be taken into consideration in addition to the Landlord and Tenant Act such as the Residential Tenancy Act, the Credit Reporting Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act all may play a part in dealing with prospective tenants.

Important Notice: This information is provided as basic educational information by the author and is not a substitute for the advice of an expert and/or the advice of a lawyer. There is NO representation as to legality, accuracy, correctness of the herein information and the reader is strongly urged to consult a lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction to ensure accuracy before acting on this information .

 

[argos]

has anyone come across any good/useful websites to do credit/criminal/etc. checks.

I googled a few but many of the websites don't look very 'legit'/promising. Just wondering if anyone have used any websites in the past that you found useful.

 

[Northern Light]

Checks

Better to spend a little money (or get your prospective tenant to do so)

Many would be insulted, of course, but its not such a big deal.

You can ask a tenant to provide a 'clearance letter' from police that states you have no criminal convictions.

Cost is something around $26.00 I believe.

As I recall, they have go to Police HQ in person and with 2 pieces of ID etc, sign a form, blah blah.

The link is here: http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/recordsmanagement/clearance.php


For Credit checks, same sorta deal.

Go with a legit Credit Rating Agency and fork over the dough, its not that prohibitive.

You don't do checks on 20 people, only the people you are ready to say 'Yes' to.

Hopefully, no more than 2 checks would be necessary.

Equifax (Credit Rating Agency can be found here)

http://www.equifax.com/home/

*********

As someone else said above: The following (and preceding) is not legal or professional advice, and no warranty is made to its accuracy! (LOL....terrible way lawyers make us type these days)

My suggestions on what you should be looking for:

1) You must set out a lease agreement. No agreement in writing is your word against theirs! (needless to say this starts with lease term and rent amount)

2) Such agreement must be consistent with the laws of Ontario. (ie, you can't provide for less notice of eviction or non-renewal that the law mandates, only more)

3) Any agreement should clearly lay out what is and what is not tenant space. (don't leave it up to common sense!)

4) Exact Date of tenancy, rent due, etc. should be clearly stated. (otherwise you run into I moved in on the 7th, I shouldn't have to pay rent for that week.....)

5) Spell out any terms of entry you as the landlord need. The law allows you access for emergencies and under certain other circumstances subject to notice. If you need additional access, you have to spell that out.

6) Any preconditions should be spelled out. (many requirements, including no pets are no longer allowed, as I understand it, but some restrictions are allowed, if you spell them out, for instance, no Window AC, or something like that)

7) Absolutely document the condition of the place with photos, and in writing, signed and witnessed by the tenant on or before their move in date.

You can't ask to keep the security deposit unless you prove they did damage that wasn't there prior to renting.

***

In general, I would get any tenant to agree to more, rather than less, but make sure you don't over-restrict yourself in the process.

All of that said, try not to create too many hassles or over-price yourself in the market or you won't have many prospective tenants to choose from.

Its really better, if you can, to pay for professional advice from a lawyer and/or a Real Estate Broker.

Also keep in mind.....Any Apartment you rent MUST BE LEGAL. This is crucial, because you can get in so much hooey if your place isn't legal. Oh and good luck collecting rent owning, since the courts don't generally enforce illegal contracts. (this is the old problem of you can't sue the other robber if they steal your share of the bank job!)

 

[argos]

Better to spend a little money (or get your prospective tenant to do so)

Many would be insulted, of course, but its not such a big deal.

You can ask a tenant to provide a 'clearance letter' from police that states you have no criminal convictions.

Cost is something around $26.00 I believe.

As I recall, they have go to Police HQ in person and with 2 pieces of ID etc, sign a form, blah blah.

The link is here: http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/recordsmanagement/clearance.php


For Credit checks, same sorta deal.

Go with a legit Credit Rating Agency and fork over the dough, its not that prohibitive.

You don't do checks on 20 people, only the people you are ready to say 'Yes' to.

Hopefully, no more than 2 checks would be necessary.

Equifax (Credit Rating Agency can be found here)

http://www.equifax.com/home/

*********

As someone else said above: The following (and preceding) is not legal or professional advice, and no warranty is made to its accuracy! (LOL....terrible way lawyers make us type these days)

My suggestions on what you should be looking for:

1) You must set out a lease agreement. No agreement in writing is your word against theirs! (needless to say this starts with lease term and rent amount)

2) Such agreement must be consistent with the laws of Ontario. (ie, you can't provide for less notice of eviction or non-renewal that the law mandates, only more)

3) Any agreement should clearly lay out what is and what is not tenant space. (don't leave it up to common sense!)

4) Exact Date of tenancy, rent due, etc. should be clearly stated. (otherwise you run into I moved in on the 7th, I shouldn't have to pay rent for that week.....)

5) Spell out any terms of entry you as the landlord need. The law allows you access for emergencies and under certain other circumstances subject to notice. If you need additional access, you have to spell that out.

6) Any preconditions should be spelled out. (many requirements, including no pets are no longer allowed, as I understand it, but some restrictions are allowed, if you spell them out, for instance, no Window AC, or something like that)

7) Absolutely document the condition of the place with photos, and in writing, signed and witnessed by the tenant on or before their move in date.

You can't ask to keep the security deposit unless you prove they did damage that wasn't there prior to renting.

***

In general, I would get any tenant to agree to more, rather than less, but make sure you don't over-restrict yourself in the process.

All of that said, try not to create too many hassles or over-price yourself in the market or you won't have many prospective tenants to choose from.

Its really better, if you can, to pay for professional advice from a lawyer and/or a Real Estate Broker.

Also keep in mind.....Any Apartment you rent MUST BE LEGAL. This is crucial, because you can get in so much hooey if your place isn't legal. Oh and good luck collecting rent owning, since the courts don't generally enforce illegal contracts. (this is the old problem of you can't sue the other robber if they steal your share of the bank job!)

thanks.

is there a standard form for collecting SIN # strictly for credit check purposes that i can get the prospective tenants to sign? or do i just include that in the rental agreement myself?

and for background/criminal check, do i just get tenants to go get it themselves? or is there a way i can do it for them with their written permission (to save them the hassle)?

 

[TrickyRicky]

You can find resources etc. but the best comment is just to trust your instincts. One potential problem however is that you tend to gel with people who are like minded with yourself. So the question begs would you want you as a tenant, honestly? Would you want your friends as tenants? If the answer is not necessarily yes you need to temper your instincts with a basic knowledge of what qualities make for a good tenant. Payment itself is not really a big issue with respect to tenants. Most people pay. When we speak of qualities of a good tenant it is far more nuanced than that. So with respect to the issue of payment for instance, do they pay on time, do you have to hound them, are they communicative and open, are they too communicative and open, do they live pay-cheque to pay-cheque, do they consider the payment of rent as important or secondary to all other expenses? etc.

 

[luxome]

You can find resources etc. but the best comment is just to trust your instincts. One potential problem however is that you tend to gel with people who are like minded with yourself. So the question begs would you want you as a tenant, honestly? Would you want your friends as tenants? If the answer is not necessarily yes you need to temper your instincts with a basic knowledge of what qualities make for a good tenant. Payment itself is not really a big issue with respect to tenants. Most people pay. When we speak of qualities of a good tenant it is far more nuanced than that. So with respect to the issue of payment for instance, do they pay on time, do you have to hound them, are they communicative and open, are they too communicative and open, do they live pay-cheque to pay-cheque, do they consider the payment of rent as important or secondary to all other expenses? etc.

Some good pointers. But i must disagree with this one. I spent over 10 months evicting tenant after tenant. It was definitely an expensive lesson well learned. I made the mistake of rushing to get places rented out without doing a thorough screening.