Landlords Focus on Eviction, Payment History when Screening Tenants

Mom-and-pop landlords, having battled through the uncertainty of COVID-era rent collection, now focus more on eviction history and late rent payments, according to data collected by online analysis company Avail.

The Avail Q1 2023 Landlord and Renter survey of more than 2,500 independent landlords and renters revealed that more than half of landlords (55.4 percent) were most concerned about prospective tenants with past evictions, followed by verifiable income (46.5 percent), late rent payments (41.5 percent), and criminal history (36 percent).

Lower on the list were job insecurity (31.9 percent), credit history (29.5 percent), and low credit score (19.3 percent), according to the report.

Interesting that credit score, which is among the initial questions asked by prospective applicants, was so low on the list. And it’s also revealing that the factors that most small landlords consider most important when choosing tenants are the same factors that lawmakers in many regions are targeting to protect: those who have forced evictions or had violent criminal convictions.

Avail’s survey was conducted between March 28 and April 7. The margin of error for landlords was 2.5 percent and 3.2 percent for renters. Avail, which is owned by Realtor.com, provides online data for mom-and-pop landlords.

Dream Big Property Management uses a professional screening service to run background checks on all adult applicants, including credit history, criminal and background check, past records of evictions or judgments from previous landlords, verification of income and employment, and reference checks from previous landlords. For information about our property management services, call 951-778-9700 for a no-obligation consultation.