Evictions are scary. First, of course, is the cost. Then, there’s the time and energy spent. One way to achieve peace of mind is to utilize a free eviction check to determine if a tenant you’re considering has been through the eviction process before with another landlord.
If they have, that’s a good indicator to you, their new prospective landlord, that you may want to consider a different candidate. Of course, not all evictions are the same. Sometimes, tenants face uncontrollable circumstances that only temporarily impact their ability to pay rent.
But before you can gather circumstances surrounding a past eviction, you’ll need to find a way to check eviction records for free. Then, if you come across an eviction, you can dive deeper into the details. However, before obtaining the eviction report, let’s first cover the basics.
An eviction check, or an eviction history check, is a report that landlords pull to find out if a prospective tenant has ever been evicted from a property; they generally go back seven years. It’s an essential facet of a tenant screening report that landlords complete to determine whether or not a tenant will be a good fit.
When landlords run these reports, either the landlord or the tenant supplies the tenant’s personal information to a tenant screening service, which runs the provided data against a database of eviction-related court proceedings.
If the report finds nothing, that’s good news. That means there hasn’t been any history of an eviction for the tenant. It could also mean that the jurisdiction where you run your rental business doesn’t allow landlords to pull and/or consider eviction histories in the tenant screening phase. For example, TransUnion won’t return eviction-related records from Connecticut, New York, and Miami-Dade County.
If you’re in a jurisdiction that prohibits tenant screening services from returning eviction reports, check all the information you’re allowed to. Depending on your area, that could mean referencing an individual’s (where permitted) credit history, criminal record, income, and past landlords or employers.
If, after you run a tenant screening report, you find that the would-be tenant you’ve has been evicted in the past, you’ll find the following information on the report. We filled it in to provide context.
This record essentially tells the landlord what happened in court. The most important piece of information in the report is “Action Type.” If it reads Forcible Entry/Detainer, that means the tenant didn’t leave the property when instructed to do so.
Let’s break down the legalese. “Forcible” just refers to the fact the tenant is/was unlawfully holding possession of a property, and “Detainer” refers to the act of a tenant keeping something that didn’t belong to them, i.e., a rental property. It’s the legal language a court uses when filing an eviction.
If you see those terms, just know the court has filed an eviction against the tenant. Now, you have a few options. You can choose to go with another tenant who doesn’t have an eviction record, or you can ask some questions to gain further information.
As a landlord, you are responsible for abiding by Fair Housing laws, which means you cannot discriminate against protected classes. Protected classes include:
Basically, we say this to make sure landlords know to stick to relevant information regarding the eviction. Ask questions like:
Questions like these aim to gather relevant information about the applicant’s rental history and ability to fulfill their lease obligations while straying from discriminatory or intrusive areas.
Compare those questions with the following for an idea of what not to ask.
The key takeaway is that you need to ask questions directly related to the eviction and the facts surrounding it. And if you’re early on in the process, make sure that if you ask eviction questions prior to screening, ask every single tenant to avoid discrimination.
Now that you know what to ask let’s see how you can acquire an eviction check for free.
The easiest and best way to get an eviction check is to run a thorough background check for tenants using TurboTenant’s tenant screening feature.
TurboTenant makes tenant screening processes easier than ever by allowing prospective tenants to fill in their personal information themselves. All you need to do is enter the renter’s name and email, and you can invite them to fill out the rest.
The best part? It’s completely free for landlords because the applicant pays the screening fee. Once our partner, TransUnion, compiles the report, you’ll get a high-definition view of the renter with details that include (where allowed) the following:
Screening reports often leave out criminal histories or eviction checks, but our report checks all the boxes so landlords get the best chance to rent to tenants who fulfill their obligations as outlined in the lease agreement.
A free eviction check for landlords is just the tip of the iceberg. When you sign up for a free TurboTenant account, you get access to features that’ll make managing your rental properties a cinch.
TurboTenant’s free tier includes access to:
Plus, you’ll never have to input a credit card or fiddle around with the product on a limited-time trial basis. Try TurboTenant today!
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