There are a number of tenancy screening services available including Tinz, Tenant Check and Baycorp/Veda to name a few. Baycorp is a credit bureau which holds credit defaulting information.
Although credit default information is important, landlords also need information on any outstanding Tenancy Tribunal orders that show the history of the tenant’s interaction with previous landlords.
What are the tenants rights now that these databases are available to the landlord? Under NZ law, tenants have the right to view any information about them held by any credit bureau or tenant database. The next post will cover the importance of tenants doing landlord checks.
Tenancy Screening and Checks
I like this particular version of why tenant databases are important because not all tenants act as you would expect them to.
We can detect tenants with a poor rental history to avoid granting leases to tenants with a poor record of payment, or who have been subject to legal action.
For many New Zealanders, owning investment properties has been an attractive alternative to the share market or more speculative investment opportunities.
Whilst property rental is relatively low risk, the consequences of a bad tenant who damages the property or defaults on their rental can be considerable.
There are professional ‘bad’ tenants who are very good at targeting private landlords. They avoid renting any property through Real Estate Agents or Property Managers, knowing that the information obtained while processing their application may unearth adverse tenancy and/or financial history. This will ring alarm bells for any landlord!
It is not uncommon for a landlord whose tenants have left owing weeks of back-rent to find overdue bills in the tenants name flooding in to the mailbox for weeks after their departure. The landlord may have inadvertently added themselves to a growing list of creditors.
I believe strongly that you can be both fair to your tenants, yet still protect your rental property.
Its unfortunate that even though the great majority of tenants can be trusted, there is a small group who can ruin your investment and happiness.
Here’s another way you can help.
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