South Dakota

South Dakota Tenant Screening Background Checks

South Dakota Tenant Screening Background Checks are extremely important to every landlord of South Dakota rental properties. When landlords take the crucial steps to thoroughly screen every applicant there is a much greater likelihood of the best applicants rising to the top and the denial of unqualified people applying to rent one of your South Dakota rental properties.

There is much more to tenant screening than simply jotting down a few notes regarding the person’s name and place of employment in a notebook. You must perform comprehensive South Dakota Tenant Screening Background Checks on each applicant and not just the primary applicant. Perhaps one adult insists on completing the process without involving other adults living with the primary applicant. If you allow only the primary applicant to go through the application process, you could regret it later. Conducting South Dakota Tenant Screening Background Checks are necessary for every adult applicant wishing to reside in one of your rental properties. Protect your investment in your rental properties by completing the comprehensive screening process on every adult.

The credit report is an essential part of the tenant screening process and will demonstrate whether the applicant pays bills when due or has total disregard for due dates or the full amount due. The credit report only shows the credit-related information, which is sometimes a surprise to landlords who mistakenly assume the credit history reveals eviction records. Only the Eviction History reveals information about whether an applicant has a record of previous evictions.

Applicants are not always truthful when giving their current or former addresses during the screening process. Including the Previous Address Tenant History reveals the most recent as well as former known addresses of your applicant. If the prospective tenant leaves out former addresses during the application process this is a reason to dig deeper and compare other information, including all the information listed on the South Dakota Tenant Screening Background Checks.

The Telecheck Verification reveals whether each of your applicants has a history of writing bad checks or fraudulent checks.

South Dakota landlords want to protect their properties and the safety of other tenants. The best way to do this is to conduct comprehensive South Dakota Tenant Screening Background Checks that includes multiple levels of criminal background searches. Your local criminal records are likely only for misdemeanor offenses handled through lower-level courts. Use the Criminal History provided by the American Apartment Owners Association to learn whether an applicant has a criminal history through a state-specific search. When you also include the Federal Search, you discover any criminal history records on a nationwide level. It is also imperative to conduct the Sex Offender Search, which reveals whether your applicant is a sex offender. Sex offenders may relocate to another area rather than appear in court to answer for their sex crimes. Sex offenders may also relocate after their release from prison to start their illicit acts all over again in a new location. Including the Sex Offender Search enables you to exclude the offender from consideration for renting one of your South Dakota properties. Another type of criminal that you likely want to eliminate from consideration is someone with a history of terrorist-related offenses. The Terrorist Search gives you details about each of your applicants who have any history of terrorist-related charges or convictions.

Social Security fraud is an area where experienced scammers and identity theft professionals often take advantage of others. The person whose social security number is used who may not even know that someone is using their social security number to obtain services, such as approval to rent one of your South Dakota rental properties. Include the Social Security Number Fraud Check when you perform your South Dakota Tenant Screening Background Checks and learn whether an applicant is giving you a false social security number that belongs to someone else.

Landlords can no longer safely rent to the first applicant who shows up with money-in-hand. It could lead to disaster and landlords are sometimes held legally responsible if a tenant harms another person. Protect yourself, your other tenants, nearby neighbors and yourself by only renting to highly qualified applicants, based on the results of your comprehensive South Dakota Tenant Screening Background Checks.

For more information, visit:
South Dakota Landlord Tenant Laws
South Dakota Landlord Forms