As a landlord, you’re probably aware of how complicated the tenant screening process is. There are so many background checks to carry out, checklists to create, and state and federal laws to comply with.
It’s no surprise that screening the average tenant could take several days. Multiply the number of individuals you have to screen, and you could be dealing with weeks of tedious paperwork and phone calls before you find the perfect tenant.
Fortunately, the digital age has the perfect solution.
Online platforms are making the screening process easier. From websites that offer free online rental application letters to AI tools that carry out background checks in seconds, let’s take a closer look at how these platforms can ease your workload.
Finding Tenants
Before you get to the screening phase, it’s crucial to identify tenants that you know will be a good fit. Previously, this was a time-consuming task that required a great deal of marketing knowledge. But thanks to various online platforms, sharing property listings has never been easier.
Once you’ve created a listing with high-quality images, relevant property details, and your preferences, you can use digital tools to distribute these listings across the most prominent platforms.
Apart from widening your reach, these property listings also set expectations for potential tenants, meaning you’ll only have to screen the most relevant applicants.
Sending and Receiving Application Forms
Creating a rental application that covers all the necessary bases can be challenging. You have to gather all the pertinent details while adhering to various local regulations.
Managing all these documents can be frustrating for landlords and tiring for tenants who want to reduce the amount of paperwork they have to file.
Hence, it’s no wonder that online rental applications are becoming more popular by the day. A recent survey estimated that online forms account for 20% of all recent applications being processed.
Services that offer these templates provide crucial documentation that is customizable depending on the state in question. They also save landlords a great deal of time and money in the long run for the tenant screening process.
Conducting Background Checks
Screening potential tenants entails performing background checks on each of them. This could include evaluating credit scores, researching rental histories, and reaching out to previous landlords. Indeed, it can be as time-consuming as it sounds.
The fact that these checks must be compliant with local and federal regulations only complicates matters further.
Fortunately, after conquering several industries, artificial intelligence (AI) has stepped in and is making the tenant screening process more efficient. Many online tools leverage AI algorithms to carry out instant background checks. They look up rental histories, credit scores, and social media behavior, so you have a good overview of the applicant.
That’s not all. Some platforms can even use a tenant’s ID to pull records from databases, giving you an idea of their criminal background and eviction history. Landlords can also review an applicant’s financial transactions to see if they remit payments on time. Using such advanced tools greatly shortens the average processing time while helping landlords detect fraudulent applications.
Staying Compliant
Landlords and tenants are bound by certain laws that differ on state and federal levels. For the average landlord, keeping up with these laws and ensuring compliance can be a struggle.
In some states, for instance, it’s illegal to discriminate against tenants based on their sources of income, while other states dictate how a tenant’s criminal background should impact a landlord’s decision-making.
Many modern online services understand the laws that govern each state, allowing you to carry out appropriate screening.
Furthermore, they also adhere to various data protection laws. This is paramount considering how much sensitive data you’re dealing with (like a potential tenant’s financial and employment history and contact information).
Benefits of Online Screening
The endless stream of online tools helps fast-track applications at every stage of the tenant screening process. Despite the efficiency and resources they offer, many landlords are hesitant to change with the times, opting to continue with tired manual processes. Here are some benefits they’re missing out on:
- Faster processing times: Using a mix of online platforms, landlords can drastically reduce the screening time from several days to a few hours. This gets tenants into homes faster, allowing you to make the most of your investment.
- Increased accuracy: By detecting fraudulent applicants and putting you in touch with only the most relevant candidates, online platforms can screen tenants more accurately than humans.
- Increased volume: How many applications can you realistically check with manual methods? By leveraging online solutions, you can process more applications in less time.
- Saved costs: Many online screening services are free or charge a nominal amount. Cutting down manual processes can help you save money.
Conclusion
In this modern age, technology has made the tenant screening process easier, faster, and cheaper. While exploring new tools and their functionalities may take time and effort to learn at first, they can offer you unparalleled convenience. Once you discover which online platforms are best for you and how to use them, you may never go back to the old way of doing things.
