It is a common practice to do a tenant credit check before approving them for your rental property. This can greatly reduce your risks of accepting a troublesome tenant. And can alert you to potential problems before an applicant signs a lease. Before you do a tenant credit check you will need the applicant to complete and sign a rental application form. This should have a release at the bottom of the form giving you permission to run a tenant credit check. It is a federal law to have this release. Without this consent form the fine can be up to $5,000.00 and 2 years in prison. Credit reports can be expensive if you have a large number of applicants this is why many landlords choose to pass the fee along to the potential tenant in the form of an application fee.
