How do I avoid bad tenants?

The best way to avoid bad tenants is to do a thorough credit and background screening on ALL tenants that will be renting your place. By screening your potential tenants through Rentler you'll find out:

1. Any history of eviction.
   Tenants with a history of eviction can be bad news for landlords. Seeing a tenant's history can give you a date of the incident and a record of how it was resolved.
2. Criminal offenses.
   Seeing a complete background check will give you insight to any prior offenses that you may want to discuss with future tenants.
3. Their income.
   Once you have verified a potential tenant's income, you can see if it follows the  30 percent rule that many landlords follow when deciding if a tenant will be able to pay rent each month.
4. Unpaid debts.
   If a tenant has declared bankruptcy, it will show up on a credit report. Bankruptcy can be a sign that a tenant is not ready to handle monthly rent payments, so be wary when it shows up on screenings.
5. Address verification.
   Double-check to see if their past residences match up to what appears on their application. If the info in incorrect, that may be a sign that they are hiding something. 

Your rental is an investment, so taking small steps to protect it now can pay off big time in the future.