# Tenant Screening and Lease Contract Tips



## ForeverStrong (Mar 3, 2017)

Hey guys/gals; just looking on what fellow landlord's look for when screening new tenants? (I know of some of the basics: pay-stubs, credit checks etc.) what are some things you've looked for?

Also, when you guys proceed with the tenant, what are good clauses to include in the contract?

Looking forward to the replies, cheers!


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## Lost in Space 2 (Jun 28, 2016)

This from Landlord Rescue (highly recommend her twitter feed)

10 tips on renting to worst tenants

Check out her blog posts she's written quite a bit about this


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Another good resource is www.easysafemoney.com. His book answers your questions and includes sample leases.


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## tygrus (Mar 13, 2012)

Clauses in contracts are useless if a tenant really wants to not pay you. They will sit in your apt for months while you try to get an injunction for eviction. 

- Have as big a damage deposit as you can get. 
- Dont rent in BC. 
- Have control to the apt services outside so you can cut heat, power and water.


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## ForeverStrong (Mar 3, 2017)

Renting in the City of Toronto. Just looking on people's different approaches and clauses they've included.


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## mikep (Mar 13, 2017)

going to give you some golden secrets right here.. even you old timers are going to learn a thing or two right now =)

you put up your rental ad. most likely on kijiji I'm guessing? not sure where you are located. 
it used to be easy when i'd get a reply and have the potential tenant's email address. I used to copy and paste that in the facebook search bar and more often than not, their profile would come up.
now kijij scrambles the email address.
so what you do is you reply and ask for their phone number. 
now during your second email from the potential tenant their last name may appear, try punching that in facebook, and when they give you the phone number you can also search that in facebook as well. 

and just creep as much as you can to see whether or not they run a doggie day care, have a drug problem, live like a pig, post on their profile asking if anyone can loan them $400, where they work, if their friends are toothless, 

and if you see something you don't like, just don't reply. don't give them any reason for anything. you just suck at checking emails. 
then try and ask people you know if they know the people. you may find out that the husband has anger issues and him and the wife keep getting into fights, splitting up, ditching their rental, getting back together and now they are looking for a new place to punch holes in the wall. 

i'm in my early thirties and prefer not to rent to anyone under 50. stay away from dumbasses with little kids that will kick the **** outta your rental and add new furry friends to their family that will be potty trained on your hardwood floor. 

it's all about patience.. you don't have to play every hand that you're dealt. and just wait for that old retired couple who cashed outta their house, have a few hundred k invested and they aren't going to cause you any ****. 
former home owners are a lot less likely to kick the **** outta your place than younger renters.


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## mikep (Mar 13, 2017)

also the more you ask in the REQUIRED section of your rental ad, the better you'll scare away the deadbeat losers that prey on 1st time landlords.

I like to say:
REQUIRED:
-Rental application
Proof of current income and employment reference letter
Credit Report & Credit Score

you can also ask for a bank reference letter
and if you want to almost guarantee no deadbeat will reply to your ad ask to see their 2106 notice of assessment. 


If I was looking to rent I would have no problem coming up with any of the above documents. 

I leased a property to a couple ages 82 and 80. Had all the above documents. They did all the window coverings in the place. Replaced my entry level stainless steel fridge with a higher end French door fridge. They will also plant shrubs on the property. They give me 1 cheque at a time. I go visit them once a month for a coffee and always end up having a good laugh because they are hilarious. The old man's cousin is 100 years old. I hope these people live forever. The bullshit I have to deal with at this property is 0.00%


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## Mechanic (Oct 29, 2013)

I rented a nice $500k property through a property manager a few times in BC. Was a learning experience and such a headache. Drive it like a rental is so true. Put your money in something like CAR.UN instead, probably a lot less hassle.


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## twa2w (Mar 5, 2016)

I am not a a LL but two tips that always sounded good to me were;
1) Ask for current address and landlords contact info and the previous two addresses and landlords contact info.
The current land lord may give a good ref to get rid of them but the prev landlords will likely be honest. May not be able to get this if they were long term tenants at one address but then less likely there was issues.
2) since you have their current address from above, drop by their home unexpectedly. Use some excuse when you knock on the door such as you wanted to clarify something on their application and realized when you were out that you were just a street of two over. This will tell you a lot about the tenants.

Another tip I heard is to advise tenants, as part of their lease, that you will inspect the property once a month at specific time. This eliminates a few baddies right away. And you have the right to do this since it is not unreasonable and is in the lease. You can say it is to ensure everything is in working order and to keep on top of repairs. Of course if the tenant is good, you can stop the inspectons.

Not everyone has the temperment to be a landlord. Goodluck.


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