I check our state court records online for each person who contacts me. I seem to be getting a lot of calls from felons and in some cases there are multiple people with the same name with various convictions. Some of these folks are in the same city, so asking where they live now doesn't really narrow it down. How do I screen the really bad criminals out before showing them the place and waiting to see if they fill out an application?

I wish I could ask for middle name and birthdate right away or even outright ask "Are you the one convicted of sexual assault of a child" but that would scare off the good people who happen to be unlucky enough to share a name with the felon. Any suggestions?

In many States, like California, a landlord can not discriminate against someone with a "non-violent" criminal past. Felon or not. Instead I allow them to complete an application. Provide pay studs, State Picture ID, bank statements, etc.

WI House,

How? Don't be shy. Just ask them for middle initial and birthdate. I don't think that would scare away anyone.

Back in the dark ages when I woudl answer the phone I aksed 3 questions and wanted answers before proceeding with the phone call

1. WHEN do you need a place

2. Are you WORKING?

3. How much RENT do you pay now?

This quickly eliminated a majority of callers and saved me TONS of time.

Now, all our marketing says to complete an application to receive the key lockbox code for a self showing. Not much longer than a pre-app. We can check court records and sex offender list in mere minutes. No app, lousy app, criminal app = no code.

Stay in control. The tail does not wag the dog.

I'm with Brad on this one: questions like middle name and b-date won't scare away any GOOD applicants. It probably will scare away some of the bad ones. Other bad ones will lie. Not much you can do about that.

I recommend having a list of questions they must answer before you do any showings, and I also highly recommend lock box showings like Brad and I (and many other posters on this site) use.

Think about this: the worst thing that can happen if you do a lock box showing is someone steals all the pipes out of your home and floods it. Insurance can help with that, if you have the proper policy (and if not, get it!)

By contrast, the worst thing that can happen if you do in-person showings is a land-lord hating criminal can bash your head in with a pipe and kill you.

If you speak on the phone to your applicants, or even in an email, you can get back to them and say "There appear to be three different people with the same name as you that have felony records.

I am happy to make the effort to verify that you aren't one of them. To do so I will need your full name and date of birth. Then when you come to view the house, I will need to see government issued picture ID."

Never worry about hurting an applicant's feelings. Be careful to never violate fair housing laws, but don't worry about offending.

If you are polite about it, tenants expect to jump through hoops and they expect to have their lives pried into. No one who is not a felon is going to be upset that you will take the time to verify that the criminal record online isn't theirs.

What if you sent them an information packet before scheduling. First page is a notice about all the steps you will perform in screening EVERY applicant.

I misspoke. This person contacted me through e-mail. But I did call him back and I'm glad I called rather than e-mail him. He said all kinds of stuff that disqualified him and I never would have found all of that out through an e-mail. He ended up deciding that he would look around at other places, so bonus, I don't even have to turn him down! I think my questions convinced him to seek other landlords who won't screen as well.

Thanks to this site I have learned to listen better and catch red flags that I might have missed in the past.

Forgot to ad that I did ask for his middle name but by that point he had was already disqualified.

Screening starts with the words hello

They are screening you as much as you are screening them. Those that seem timid are going to get taken advantage of by the other party.

I personally see value in knowing who I am doing business with, then again my adds are specific enough that if I have a call - the folks saw my phone number in the MIDDLE of the add. You can't simply go to the bottom of my add. The top of my add tells you how I am going to screen you. It is the bottom of the add that describes the place.

You can also catch a hole in their rental history.