What to Ask Potential Tampa Tenants & What Not To

Rental property management in Tampa will be a lot easier when you know what to ask prospective Tampa tenants & what not to ask. Here in this post we will address this issue a bit elaborately.

Credit score: To pre-qualify, ask the prospective tenants regarding their credit score. This offers you a hint of what your prospective renters thinks regarding paying bills & managing money. When background screening, it is recommended to pull a credit report. You don’t wish to waste your & the potential tenant’s time if their credit score is not high enough for you to rent to them.

Income source: Ask your potential tenant how much they earn, and make sure their income should be from a dependable source. It does not necessarily need to be a job; it can be housing assistance, child support or SSI. The source must be dependable. You want to ensure if they have adequate earning to pay for the rent money.

Previous evictions: Don’t forget to inquire if they have ever been evicted before. It’s not a positive indication if a prospective renter forced another property owner to evict them. But if it was far in the past & there is a decent rental record since then, you may decide it isn’t relevant & give them the rent.

Felony convictions: Inquire if they have any lawbreaking convictions. You are particularly looking for the manufacture & distribution of drugs, violent crimes, and property damage. However, if a crime is far in the past, again you might not think it matters.

Optimistic identification: You wish to know the renters are who they say they are. Ask them for government issued identity proof and cross reference names, addresses, etc alongside their credit report. Ensure they match. Everything must be checked, because identity stealing is an increasing issue.

Things you should not ask your potential tenants:

Being a leading property management company in Tampa we had dealt with tenants from different backgrounds hence know what to ask and what not to potential renters. Do not ask how many kids a renter has. It may look innocent, but early in the process it may lead someone to believe you are discriminating against families. You can ask that particular question on the rental form because you need to know who’ll be occupying the home and their ages. If a kid is more than 18 years of age, they will have to make a separate leading form to be included o the contract. Any kid under eighteen can be integrated to the lease as authorized renters.

Ignore asking anything associated to the 7 protected categories in federal fair housing acts including color, race, religion, and sex, country of origin, disability and family status. For professional Tampa area property management help, contact Simply Property Management. We are your one stop for any type of Tampa property related assistance.

This blog is originally posted here: https://tampaareapropertymanagement.wordpress.com/