I understand the temptation to skip tenant background checks. You’ve got an open unit and you have someone that looks on your application. It can seem like a good idea just get that unit rented as fast as possible and get your occupancy up. It seems like you will save both time and money by pushing forward with getting keys in the tenant’s hands.
What you need to understand however is that you are gambling with both your rental unit and your pocketbook when you do this… and it’s not a good gamble. Statistically, it’s just a matter of time until you loose. It only takes one tenant that will trash your rental unit, stiff you, or force an eviction to wipe out the “savings” from 100 other transactions that you processed successfully without a background check.
According to reports from recent years 59% of all landlords have had to deal with tenants behind on their rent. According to LSL Property Services 99,000 tenants are behind in their rent by at least 2 months. Recent years have also brought a rising number of landlords that are forced to start eviction proceedings.
Next time you think of skipping a tenant background check, remember these stats. The background check is quick and inexpensive and will greatly decrease the chance of ending up with a problem tenant.
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