What is a rental verification form?

The rental verification form, known as the landlord verification form, is often requested by landlords to verify that a prospective tenant is a generally responsible tenant. Rental forms are used not only by businesses and employers but also by landlords and property owners who want to protect their properties from fraud and fake tenants. As a result of increasing problems such as fraud and identity theft, property owners have to be more careful when renting out their property to others.

A rental verification form is especially necessary for landlords or even potential tenants. The verification form is used to verify the tenant's previous lease history and employment history. Depending on the original purpose and recipient of the form, this verification form can have various names and titles. 

What is rental verification?

Before you can find your next tenant, you'll need to look at the applicant's housing history and contact previous landlords to learn more about how they handled the rental. But as a novice landlord, how accurately can you verify the applicant's rental history? Read on for the answers to all of these and more.

Rental verification is the process by which a landlord gets in touch with a tenant's prior landlord to confirm and verify the history of rentals indicated on the applicant's application. Rent verifications give landlords a chance to contact previous landlords to learn more about the applicant. You can check the accuracy of the information on your tenant's rental application by looking up their prior rental history. Typically, a background check is conducted along with call verifications. Rental history is typically provided by background checks, although occasionally, database faults cause this information to be inaccurate.

An rental verification form sample

How to create a rental verification form

Rental forms are usually written lease agreements between a landlord and a tenant who wishes to own the property temporarily. A rental verification form assists a landlord in researching a prospective tenant's rental history and determining whether or not an applicant is reliable and qualified to rent the property. You may create the agreement forms you need with forms.app's functionality and simple UI.

How to verify the details of your applicants

The capacity to carefully examine tenant rental applications is one of the most crucial elements of being a successful landlord. Tenant screening can significantly reduce the hazards associated with tenants, including late or missed rental payments, property damage, and eviction. It's critical for property owners must understand the rental verification procedure. Understanding how to carry out tenant verification is equally crucial, particularly if you are new to the world of rental property ownership.

Verification is carried out by doing background checks online, over the phone, or by email to learn more about the applicant's past with rent and money. The verification procedure gives the property owner a chance to question the accuracy of the information provided in the application.

You have two options for handling the rental verification process. You can first ask the tenant for a reference on the rental verification form. At the same time, you can also verify the connection by contacting the tenant's past landlords directly. If you don't want to deal with them, use property management software platforms for small landlords to handle this automatically. The verification procedure usually takes 48 to 72 hours to complete, but actual timeframes may vary. The process may take longer if the owner has received multiple applications for the same property.

Landlady talking on a phone for background check

7 tips for an effective background check

Background checks usually include criminal history, credit report, education, employment history, previous addresses, and personal and professional reference checks. An effective background check helps you get an accurate and true rental history from your prospective tenants. Ultimately, background checks can help landlords narrow down their pool of candidates by identifying potentially risky renters. Here are seven practical tips for completing the rental verification process.

1. Application and consent

Obtaining information about the potential tenant's application is the initial step in this process. You also want to make sure you have permission to contact previous and current owners, as well as obtain their contact information. Because rental histories are private, it is not appropriate to contact the previous property owner without your potential tenant's consent. When you have permission, make it part of the approval application process. Any prospective tenant eligible to lease will not be reluctant to provide this information to you.

2. Call the property owner

Search and call landlords on your list.  If they do not answer, leave up to 3 messages for them to call back. you can contact them to:

3. Confirm information with the tenant

If the landlord states a different reason for the tenant to vacate or shares any information about you, consider contacting the applicant to confirm these details. If a former landlord is uncomfortable with the tenant leaving, they may be lying, just as a tenant lies on their application.

It will be up to you to choose who you believe in in a circumstance like this. Usually, a few simple questions will reveal if the two parties were simply at odds or whether one was at fault.

4. Criminal records check

Criminal records check it is particularly crucial for security-related occupations. Should incorporate both federal and local records. You may safeguard anyone guilty of financial misconduct, such as fraud, theft, and embezzlement, from yourself, your environment, and your property by conducting a thorough background check on any criminal record.

5. Social security verification

Social security verification is a process where you verify the validity of the person's social security number and find all names, including nicknames and variations, dates of birth, and address histories linked to the number.

6. Drug use

The fact that the person you are entrusting your property to has used drugs in the past or present may cause problems for you and those around you. You can request a drug screening for this.

7. Debt inquiry

The last thing an independent landlord wants to deal with is a renter who doesn't pay rent at all or on time. For this reason, it would be useful to see your tenant's credit profile in advance and to see if they have any debts or even to check if there are any cases of late payment.

Summary

As a landlord or property manager, rental verification is an important part of the process for potential tenants. There are many benefits to verifying a prospective tenant's rental history. If you don't want to run into any problems later on, take the time for comprehensive lease verification and use available resources. If you want to do a general scan, preparing a verification form for rent would make sense. Use forms.app's free templates and powerful features today, and create your own rental verification form today!