Tenancy Education

Strategies for lowering risks associated with owning or managing residential property.

According to the Department of Health, 50% of all drug labs are located on rental property. This is a staggering statistic and reflects the growing risks associated with owning and managing rental housing. In addition to the decontamination and clean-up costs, there is the added loss of revenue associated with property damage, loss of rent, decline in property values, and associated civil penalties. Another factor to consider is the FBI’s announcement of non-specific terrorist threats to apartment communities following September 11. With one-third of American households living in rental housing, residential property owners have a clear duty to be responsible for what they know or what they should have known about their tenants. This seminar addresses the laws and risks associated with the residential rental industry so that property owners can contribute responsibly to the public and safeguard the community.

In order to reduce risk and protect themselves, many residential property owners use professional background investigators to research potential tenants and applicants. These services may include social security verification, criminal history profile, credit checks, civil record checks, skip tracing or asset searches.

• Social security verification: A false social security number may reflect identity theft in an attempt to hide from a criminal record, past debts or even a threat to homeland security.
• Criminal history profile lists the criminal convictions of the tenant applicant. A good criminal investigation researches court records to ensure up-to date information regarding plea-bargains, dismissed charges and outstanding warrants.
• Credit profiles: Although credit reports are an invaluable tool for revealing high-risk tenants, they are not the complete answer to solving your risk problem.
• Civil records: Civil cases commonly found at the county level include small claim, disputed contract, breach of contract, tenant eviction, real estate foreclosure, mortgage foreclosure and loan default. Bankruptcy courts are part of the federal court system and Chapter 7, 11 and 13 bankruptcy records are generally found at the federal level.
• Skip Tracing: This allows rental agencies to maximize collection efforts and locate hard-to find debtors.

Pinnacle is focused on promoting positive public relations by demonstrating exemplary professional standards and ethics. We offer the rental housing members continuing education expanding the prevention of identity theft.