Background Screening

I talk to people about tenant screening on a daily bases and everyone is always concerned about credit information. As a property owner you should really be concerned about the applicants income level. If someone has great credit and makes $3,000 a month they may seem like they would be a good renter, unless of course the rent is $2,800. Living on $200 a month is next to impossible and your applicant will struggle to pay their bills. To decide how much money an applicant needs to qualify to rent your property you need to come up with a rent to income ratio. It's best to establish a ratio as part of your rental criteria so each applicant knows your expectations. The rental housing industry generally uses a 3/1 ratio for income to rent. What this means to you is if the rent is $1,000 the applicant would need to make $3,000 or rent x 3. This is an easy way to make sure your applicant can afford the monthly rent and pay their other bills. You may not believe this but some applicants li...

Rental property owners we work with are having great success using free tools like Craigslist.com. The more successful property owners and managers tell me they use Craigslist along with HTML to add multiple photos and a link to their main website to contact the property and set an appointment. This action demonstrates that your applicant has a real interest in your rental property. Several of the property owners we work with have told us that if the prospect contacts them from their website, they have a higher closing ratio then from other traffic sources. If you’re not advertising on the internet, Craigslist is a great starting point, and if you have been advertising on the internet for years adding you probably already know Craigslist can be very cost effective.

Have you ever used a copy Machine? Have you ever made a copy of personal information? Does your business have a copy machine? If you answered yes to any of these questions I would recommend you watch this video. Video Link

SmartRegs proposals move forward to Boulder Planning Board and City Council. After 10 months of working group meetings, open houses and community feedback, the SmartRegs (DumbRegs) project moves forward to be considered by the Planning Board at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18. The SmartRegs proposal has three main components: • Adoption of the 2009 International Property Maintenance Code with amendments to incorporate features of Boulder’s existing housing code; • Adoption of administrative revisions and fee changes to the Rental License Code; and • Adoption of an energy efficiency requirement for existing residential rental properties. The proposal, most recently amended to address comments from the Environmental Advisory Board and Landmarks Board, is available on the SmartRegs Web site for public review prior to the Planning Board meeting. The meeting will include a presentation and public hearing. Community members are encouraged to attend and provide feedback. Why should you attend thi...

SB 185-Warranty of Habitability by sponsors Senator Brandon Shaffer-D, Longmont and Representative Michael Merrifield-D, Colorado Springs, has died in the House Business Affairs Committee. Committee members, Stephens-R, Bradford-R, Priola-R, Liston-R, Balmer- R and Rice-D voted to oppose to the proposed legislation.

After weeks of committing to a NO vote, Senator Chris Romer (D-Denver) flipped his vote on SB 185 (Shaffer/Merrifield), Warranty of Habitability. The bill is now assigned to the House Business Affairs Committee. Please contact these members of the Business Affairs and Labor Committee and ask them to vote NO on SB 185. This bill would undo several months of negotiation that took place ONLY 18 MONTHS AGO. Those negotiations cost the taxpayers of Colorado upwards of $20,000 for mediation. This bill REMOVES KEY COMPONENTS that were negotiated to achieve a balanced policy for all parties involved. This bill expands the definition of a violation of the Warranty of Habitability. HB 185 changes the definition of a violation from "materially dangerous or hazardous to the tenant's life, health or safety" to "materially affects health or safety." This greatly expands what could be considered a violation of the warranty and opens the door for increased frivolous law suits. ...

We need your participation! The Financial Reform Act Will Give the FTC Expanded Rulemaking Authority over the background and tenant screening industries. Hidden inside the financial reform bill are provisions that would grant the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the equivalent of extraordinary legislative powers. These provisions have already been passed by the House (H.R. 4173) and are currently being considered by the Senate. NAPBS and NASA have great concerns with the following sections of this legislation: Unbridled authority to create rules about "unfair or deceptive acts or practices" across all but a few sectors of the American economy; Power to seek immediate civil penalties for "unfair or deceptive acts or practices without first giving companies the opportunity to change their practices;" Authority to go after companies for allegedly "aiding and abetting" others in an FTC Act violation, even without actual knowledge of the violation; and Power ...