What is the best website to conduct a fast background check for a potential tenant?

April 1, 2010 7:10 AM

What is the best website to conduct a fast background check for a potential tenant?
posted by PlayWithFire to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

I have used e-renter.com and it was fine and quick.
posted by pantarei70 at 7:21 AM on April 1, 2010 [2 favorites]

I find it helpful to see if they have a facebook profile, etc.
posted by xammerboy at 1:14 PM on April 1, 2010

I would not trust the fact that they have a Facebook profile for anything. It certainly wouldn't filter out your typical pathological liar, the kind of person who'll go to great lengths to establish a false persona. Sure there's strength in numbers but social network sites are way too easily gamed to be relied on for anything meaningful.
posted by scalefree at 3:52 PM on April 1, 2010

I might want to check social media if I were deciding on a roommate. For a landlord, though, there's nothing there of real value. For instance, I just checked the Linked In, Facebook, and Twitter profiles of the sleaziest boss I ever had, and you'd think he's great. (I don't know how he gets away with claiming that his shop has 10,001 employees, but I'm utterly unsurprised he claims that category.) You can't trust what people put out in public about themselves, not for knowing that you'll get paid on the 1st.

This is Xmarks's Tenant Screening listing, by popularity of Xmarks users. Hopefully that isn't gamed and it's true crowdsourcing. But you might do just as well with a local business.

One of the most important steps is asking for a non-refundable deposit to cover things like the credit and criminal check (check state law for what you can check and charge). It weeds out a lot of people.
posted by dhartung at 9:55 PM on April 1, 2010