We’ve been talking about skyrocketing housing prices for a while, generally in the context of what increased home values mean for lending institutions, refinances, and foreclosures.
But the rise in median home prices also means that homeowners, particularly those at the older and wiser end of the spectrum, are increasingly likely to sell. The pandemic has certainly interrupted home sales, but as vaccination rates climb and infection rates sink, homeowners are likely to cash in on the soaring value of their most valuable asset.
And rather than turning around and buying a new home (this is NOT a buyer’s market), sellers are more often than not looking to find a rental property, be it an apartment or a house.
Think of it this way: When homes are expensive, people are likelier to pursue rentals, either because they have sold their house to capitalize on the market, or because they simply cannot afford to purchase a house in it.
With a surging rental economy, property owners and managers can afford to be choosier about their tenants; a boom in background checks for rental properties is likely to result.
Background Checks, Tenant Screening, and Consumer Data
Rental properties are an enormous investment and can take years to offer any return on that investment. Obviously, keeping a property in good condition and profitable is important to property owners, and one way they can ensure this is through thorough background checks on their prospective tenants.
These checks generally include four separate information streams: a criminal background check, a rental history, an employment history, and a credit check. An entire industry exists to bundle these services into a convenient package for tenant screening.
The reasons for these checks should be self-evident: A criminal background check weeds out felons and other individuals with previous encounters with the law; a rental history provides information about past evictions and late payments, limiting applicants who are less likely to pay promptly and completely; an employment history verifies their income and shows how long they remain at a particular job and location; and a credit check will show previous loan defaults, late payments, and bankruptcies, illuminating which potential tenants are in financial trouble and are thus less likely to make consistent payments.
Each information stream comes with its own regulations that background screeners must navigate in order to legally report it to their clients. And when it comes to credit checks and consumer data, TrendSource OnSite Inspections are uniquely positioned to help with these compliance needs.
Indeed, credit checks, which are built out of consumer data, are governed by federal regulations—in order for property owners and the background screening vendor they work with to pull credit reports, there must be a permissible purpose (screening tenants) and documented compliance with these regulations.
TrendSource offers OnSite Inspections for Consumer Reporting to fill this federally-mandated need.
OnSite Inspections for Consumer Reporting
TrendSource has long been a leading provider of OnSite Inspections for Consumer Reporting and is one of the few companies authorized to perform Inspections for all three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion).
TrendSource offers both in-person and virtual Inspections, and with the addition of a new digital payment platform to its client site, Inspections are easier than ever to order; a nationwide network of experienced Inspectors is only a few clicks of the mouse away.
Companies offering background checks for property owners and managers should expect an influx of requests over the next several months as the housing prices boom pushes more and more people into rentals. Documenting compliance with federal regulations and industry best practices is essential, and TrendSource OnSite Inspections is here to help.
