Do You Really Need To Check Your Prospective Tenant’s Credit?

Posted by neil on June 07, 2013
General

Hi Friend,

I hope you are doing well.

Over the past several years I have helped many people buy their first rental property.

During this time, I have also noticed that there are a series of common questions that are asked by new real estate investors.

One of the common questions that always comes up by new real estate investors is:

Do I need to check the tenant’s credit?

The answer to this my friend is, yes.

Any experienced real estate investor will tell you that if you are not careful with determining a tenant’s credit history, you can find yourself in a world of trouble.

In the early days, I made the mistake of not checking a tenant’s credit once, and it did not result in good things.  The tenant did not pay rent, was troublesome, threw parties at night, smoked weed, disturbed neighbours, piled up garbage in the yard, and swore at me.  Needless to say, I ended up evicting the tenant.

All of this could have been avoided had I simply checked the tenant’s credit before hand, as this would have given me a further insight into the tenant’s previous habits.

Beginners make mistakes.  I have made mistakes myself and I know countless experienced real estate investors who have made these same mistakes.

I run a lot of workshops for new real estate investors and I have found that the question regarding ‘checking a tenant’s credit’ always comes up at these workshops.

A while back, I had to take a step back and ask myself why this question kept on coming up.

After some careful thought, I concluded that this question came up time and time again by new real estate investors simply because:

They did not KNOW HOW TO check a prospective tenant’s credit.

The fact that they did not know how to check credit, prevented them from even attempting to check credit.

The bottom line here is that people are generally lazy.  If there is an easy way out of doing something, people will take that easy route.

The easy way out for a new real estate investor to NOT check the credit of their tenant is by NOT CHECKING IT!  Simply put.

The good news here my friend is that checking a tenant’s credit is not difficult.

Now, there are countless Credit Check companies that you can search online via Google.

You can try finding credit check companies by typing in things into the Google Search bar like:

  • credit check companies for tenants
  • credit check companies in {your country}
  • how to check a tenant’s credit
Once you actually do this, you will see how incredibly easy it is.  Don’t let the fear of the unknown hold you back from checking a tenant’s credit.
Do the smart thing and check the credit of every prospective tenant that you are considering renting to.
It is probably one of the smartest things you will ever do as a real estate investor.
Happy Investing!
Neil Uttamsingh
ps: If you are looking to buy your first rental property, sign up for the First Rental Property Newsletter by entering your email address and name into the top right hand corner of the blog.  If you do this, you will receive tips and tricks from experienced real estate investors on how to buy your first rental property!
pps: I am a Licensed Realtor in Ontario and I help people like you buy their first rental property everyday! I personally own Hamilton real estate, Oakville real estate and Toronto real estate.   If you need help purchasing your first rental property or your next rental property, write to me at NEIL@FIRSTRENTALPROPERTY.COM. I will help you negotiate the best price, terms and conditions on your rental property. Buying in the US? No problem!  I will refer you to one of my trusted partners.  Happy Investing!  🙂

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