How do I do a credit report?

Credit checking is one of the most important services we offer our members. But how do you actually get a credit report?

What you need:

1. The full, legal name of your tenancy applicant(s).

2. Either date of birth or Social Insurance Number of each applicant.

3. Full present address (this includes postal code!).

4. A signature for consent to perform a credit [and reference] check.

Other helpful items:

1. Having both the date of birth and the SIN, if your applicant will provide both.

2. Full previous address.

3. Cell phone or house phone number.

4. Credit card number (DON'T record the expiry date!).

The process:

1. Provide us with the necessary information by a) stopping by the office with your Application for Tenancy form, b) giving us a call with your Application in front of you, or c) faxing in the completed Application.

2. We check the Evicted Tenants List. This is a database of 1000 ex-tenants who were evicted by members of ROMS BC. If your applicant shows up on this list, we recommend you stop the process here - and you don't pay!

3. We check the Delinquent Tenants List. This is a Canada-wide database (managed by our partner Tenant Verification Services) of ex-tenants who owe $200 or more to a former landlord. Again, if your applicant shows up on this list we will recommend you stop - and you still don't pay!

4. If your applicant does not appear on the Evicted nor Delinquent Tenant Lists, we will run a TransUnion credit report. The cost for this service is $8.95 when done via fax, $11.50 when done over the phone or in-person, or if no information is found - what we call a "no hit" - you don't pay anything.

Other important information:

1. Applicants are not required to provide you with a SIN or credit card number. If they are uncomfortable providing these items, don't force them; we can still do a credit check, and requiring a SIN is illegal!

2. These credit reports take a maximum of 4 business hours to complete. Please be patient; we do over 12,000 reports each year for our members!

3. Our staff are trained in interpreting credit reports. If there is any part of the report you don't understand - or you don't know what to do with it! - simply give us a call.

4. We are also able to perform American credit checks, Canadian and American commercial credit checks, and criminal record checks; contact us for more information.

You've heard it before and I'll say it again; tenant selection is the very most important aspect of being a landlord, and your process should include a credit check. It's easy to evict bad tenants - before they move in!

-- AdviserToTheAdvisers

ROMS BC's 3rd Annual Charity Golf Tournament

Join us Friday, June 24th at the Royal Oak Golf Club in Victoria to golf nine holes; either in a foursome package (to golf with whomever you choose), or individually or as a couple (with fellow members or Associate members). We will golf in a scramble format, taking the best ball each shot.

Then head inside for drinks, a gourmet buffet dinner and team and individual prizes - not to mention great company. Whether you've golfed once, twice, 100 times or never, we guarantee you'll have a good time - all for a good cause!

Sign up as:

An individual golfer: this includes green fees, one dinnerticket, and a $30 tax receipt for your donation.

- $89 per person

A foursome team: this includes green fees for four people,four dinner tickets, and four $30 tax receipts for donations.

- $329 per team of four

Registration: 11:30 - 12:45

Pre-round golf fitness: 12:00 & 12:30

Tee time: 1:00

Dinner and prizes: approximately 5:30

To sign up or make a donation to the Next Steps Transitional Shelter, call the ROMS BC office at 250.382.6324 or 1.888.330.6707, or go to golf2011.speedsurvey.com.

Craigslist users beware!

You advertised your soon to be vacant suite on Craigslist. Today you got some really great news! A person e-mailed you, saying your suite is exactly what she is looking for, however, as she is currently attending university in England, she can’t see the suite, but wants to rent it for sure. Because you can’t meet each other first, she is prepared to pay you $100 more than you are asking, plus three months’ rent in advance. She will make her recent bursary cheque, issued by the University, payable to you, so you know her payment is valid. A small detail: the cheque is for 4000 pounds, the equivalent of about $7600, so could you please mail her a cheque for the difference.

This is one of countless variations on the same theme; a scam! A potential renter doesn’t live in your city – usually the person is in Europe or Asia – is moving soon, and your place is perfect! The person wants to send you a money order, cashier’s cheque, cheque from an institution or government, etc. which invariably is for considerably more than the generous amount the person is willing to pay you.

Of course the document will prove to be bogus, but by the time you find out, you will already have sent the “change.” The old adage applies to the rental industry as it does to every other walk of life: if it seems too good to be true, it is!

-- LandlordMentor

"Just until we find a place."

Q. A few months ago I rented my unit to a nice young couple. There have been no problems until last weekend when I received complaints from two neighbours about screaming and yelling that went on most of the night. I went to talk to them, and a stranger met me at the door. He said he was one of my renter’s cousins and he and his girlfriend were staying with his cousin – “just until we find a place.” From glancing at all the furniture and other things inside the unit, I don’t think they are there temporarily, plus I spoke to one of the neighbours who said they had been there for several weeks. What can I do?

A. If you used the ROMS BC Tenancy Agreement, there is a very strong clause that states no additional persons can occupy the unit without your prior written consent and further that after 14 cumulative days in a calendar year, a “guest” becomes an occupant. You can give your renters a letter requiring the “cousin” and his girlfriend to leave. If they don't, you can issue a Notice to End Tenancy for breach of a material term of the tenancy agreement.

However, if you are using the government tenancy agreement form or some other agreement that doesn’t contain an “unauthorized occupants” clause, there’s very little you can do – you might be able to establish that four people is an unreasonable number of occupants (if the unit is a small, one bedroom suite) or persuade your renters to require the occupants to move, but if they don’t agree, you might be stuck with all four of them for the long term!

-- LandlordMentor