Contractor Background Checks

Anyone that owns property, a house, commercial building or rental property will need to have repairs or even construction done at some point in time. The questions is, can you trust the contractors that you want to use to do a good job? Are they a reputable company?

Contractor Background Checks

Contractor background checks can help property owners weed out the bad fly-by-night contractors and only do business with reputable businesses. Looking at a business’ credit history, incorporation information, years in business, bankruptcy records, etc. can help provide property owners with an insight into the business and their history as a contractor.

When hiring individuals to do work on a property, individual background checks can also be run, helping avoid unqualified individuals that may or may not take the money and run without completing the job.

During natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. unsuspecting property owners are especially vulnerable. Unfortunately fly-by-night companies pop up right after such events. They will drive through neighborhoods and try to pick up business wherever they can. Property owners are desperate for someone to help make repairs and will often fall victim to someone that promises quick repairs while more reputable companies have a waiting list.

AAA Credit Screening Services offers Contractor Background Checks and Tenant Screening Services for property owners, landlords and property managers.

Tenant Background check – What Property Managers need to know

Property managers and landlords may be concerned with their tenant applicant’s past behavior as a tenant, including any eviction record proceedings that were filed against them, but also their criminal record and credit history. Running complete tenant background check reports can provide landlords with insight into the applicant’s character and sense of responsibility before signing lease contracts.

According to a consumer credit bureau survey, only half of landlords routinely conduct a rental background check before handing over the keys to a new tenant. Failing to run a complete tenant background check can result future eviction proceedings, failure to pay rent or time and even damage to the property.

Tenant Background Check Reports:

Credit Reports – these reports will include the applicant’s credit score and history of payments and balance over the past 7 years. Tenants that have history of delinquency on bills are likely to be late on rent or even fail to pay.

Criminal Records – reports include the past 7 years in criminal convictions and will also include a sex offender registry search.  While small misdemeanor convictions may not pose a threat to the property or landlord, there are other crimes including felonies that landlords may need to make their rental decisions.

Eviction Records – these are civil court record proceedings filed against tenants to evict them for various reasons.  In the past these reports were part of credit checks, but they are no longer offered, making it necessary to run them separately. Statistically, people that have been evicted in the past are more likely to be evicted again.

Landlord Reference Checks – calling and talking to previous landlords can help landlords and property managers determine what type of tenant the applicant has been in the past and give insight into their character.

Employment Verification – calling current and previous employers can confirm employment to make sure that the applicant is still employed and verify that the information and timelines on their application is accurate.

In conclusion, running a comprehensive tenant background check on each applicant that will occupy a property can provide landlords and property managers with an informative review of the person’s character, credit history and raise possible red flags that the landlord would want to avoid.  AAA Credit Screening’s tenant verification services can provide landlords with these reports and can customize packages to fit client needs.