Finding good tenants should be a top goal for any owner of investment properties. One bad tenant can wreak havoc on a property and the owner’s wallet – not an ideal investment situation.

It is all too easy to end up with thousands of dollars of repairs and lost rent if rigorous tenant screening criteria are not adhered to. While there is no way to guarantee perfect tenants across the board, there are time tested measures that bring success:

The key to choosing good tenants is to apply these rental criteria uniformly and make no exceptions. The gut feeling that someone will make a good tenant – perhaps they have a new car, a charismatic smile, a particularly moving sob story – should never be trusted! This can be hard for some people – especially if you are managing the property yourself.

An experienced Property Manager understands the importance of applying rental criteria uniformly across all applicants – not only to choose good tenants but also to stay inside the law.

Did you know that National Fair Housing Laws prohibit discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status, and disability? Many states also have housing laws that must be strictly followed when processing rental applications. Further, the Fair Credit Reporting Act details specific requirements around running credit checks that must be properly adhered to to avoid landing in hot water.

These laws can be excruciatingly complicated and understanding them is one of the most crucial tasks a Property Manager performs for an owner. Yet another reason Why You Should Hire A Property Manager.

At Crosstown Properties in Austin Texas, we have nearly two decades of experience managing residential rental investment properties and we fully appreciate the necessity of choosing good tenants while following the relevant fair housing and fair credit laws.

Our new partnership with Acutraq, an Independent Third Party, allows us to streamline our applicant screening process while ensuring that the same rental criteria are applied to all tenants equally.
Should any questions arise, Acutraq provides tech support for the applicants and second to none customer service should we have a concern about an application.

We particularly appreciate that the Acutraq application is customizable – this allows us to detail our rental criteria and application process on the first page of the application. Every tenant has equal opportunity to read the information and must sign and acknowledge that they understand before moving forward in the application. With the click of a button Acutraq runs Federal and National Criminal Background checks and Credit Reports with Scores. Employment verification and Rental History are also obtained through Acutraq. Our listing agents then double check the applications and manually approve or deny.

Check out our FAQ for a more detailed explanation of our partnership with Acutraq and how it benefits both our clients and our staff.

Further, the Acutraq application link is included on all property listings on our website and all forms of marketing. By readily providing the rental criteria and the application process on our website, prospective applicants can read these and decide before they apply if they will qualify.

In these ways, all applicants are treated equally, all Fair Housing and Fair Credit laws are abided by, and there is a high likelihood we choose good tenants for our owners. For more information on how we get your property rented, please look through our detailed FAQ.

People often find us by searching “property management Austin,” “rental home management austin, tx,” “property manager near me,” and “property management companies austin, tx.” We’d love to hear how you found us!