As a landlord, your business depends on getting the right tenants.  You could have the best properties in Naples, but without decent tenants you will still lose.  There are many warning signs of difficult tenants, but habitual troublemakers will be well versed in hiding the fact, and fooling even the most aware landlord.

There is no hard and fast way of preventing problem tenants slipping through, but there are ways to minimize your exposure to them.  Here we highlight ten ways of protecting yourself and your properties from unscrupulous or problem tenants. Even Naples luxury rentals or Port Royal rentals are subject to unscrupulous tenants, so don’t let the higher class of client fool you for a second.

Use rental application forms. This is first step in legitimizing the tenancy.  A written record in the tenants own handwriting will provide enough information for you to decide to rent the property to them.  It demands enough information about them to either catch them out in a deception or to be able to follow up and check them out.

Protect the information you collect. Rental forms, credit checks, background check and the other paperwork involved in property rental is classed as personal data.  You have an obligation to protect that information, take steps to ensure its secure and not to share it without permission.  Tell your tenants about how you store their information and what you will do with it.  By explaining everything up front, you are putting the tenant in the picture and protecting yourself from allegations of impropriety.  Information is a commodity and many of us take the protection of it seriously.  Ensure you are one of these people and have a robust process in place to collect and protect your tenants personal information.

Ask for proof of identity. Ask prospective tenants to provide you with a photo ID and photocopy it.  A standard rental application should include a section for their drivers license number, but if you can make a copy it’s another piece of evidence in their favor.  If nothing else you will have hard evidence of what any defaulting tenant looks like to help the police or civil recovery.

Perform a background check. Once you have the completed rental application and have seen some ID, it’s time to do a background check.  It may take time, and cost money, but renting a luxury property without knowing exactly who is living there isn’t a good idea.  You are fairly limited in what you can discover, but at least you can check the legitimacy of their identity.

Perform a credit check. In the same vein, perform a credit check on the potential tenant.  You will need their written permission, but it’s a worthwhile precaution.  It’s another way of verifying their identity and seeing if they make a habit of defaulting on things.

So there are the first five tips on screening tenants.  Join us next time for the final five.