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Most landlords have processes in place to verify if a renter has been evicted in the past when reviewing their application. If you’re someone that has an eviction on your residential history, it’s important to know what to prepare for your apartment search.
In this article, we share how landlords check for evictions and what to do if you’re looking for an apartment after previously being evicted.
How Do Landlords Know If You’ve Been Evicted?
There are three ways in which a landlord can check for evictions: your credit report, eviction report, or landlord reference checks. Although evictions don’t usually show on your credit report, they can if your landlord won a court judgment against you for unpaid rent or money to cover property damage. The eviction can remain on your credit report for up to seven years despite paying it off, but this varies by state.
Landlords may also pull an eviction report, but some states place restrictions on what reports landlords can pull during tenant screening, so this may not always be the case. If prospective landlords are not allowed to pull eviction reports, then they may request references from your former landlords instead to learn more about your residential history. When they conduct a landlord reference check, they can ask how you were as a renter and for more details on any evictions listed on your rental application.
What Credit Report Do Evictions Show On?
Credit reports typically do not show evictions, unless past-due rent went to a collections agency or the landlord reported late rent payments.
If you’ve paid off the collection amount, then you may be able to get it removed, but this can take some time. It’s advised to reach out to the credit report provider directly to see if any collection amount can be removed once the outstanding amount has been paid off.
What to Do If You’ve Been Evicted
It’s still possible to rent an apartment after getting evicted, especially if you’ve worked hard to pay off any outstanding dues. Here are four things you can do if you’ve been evicted and are looking to rent again.
1. Try to Get the Eviction Removed
Some landlords may be willing to remove your eviction once you’ve paid off any past-due rent or costs to repair property damage. If that’s the case, a judge can officially remove the eviction from your record if your landlord took the case to court. You can also reach a private agreement with your landlord if the case never went to court and create an agreement with the landlord’s signature agreeing to resolve the issue.
Landlords may not always be willing to remove your eviction, but it’s worth asking before beginning your apartment search.
2. Explain What Happened to Prospective Landlords
Flagging your eviction to a prospective landlord early on allows you to explain what happened and why you were evicted. By doing this, you can provide an explanation directly instead of solely relying on what your previous landlord tells them. If you were evicted due to overdue rent, you can explain why you were unable to pay rent, how you resolved the issue, and what you’ve been doing to ensure you can pay rent on time moving forward.
3. Find a Co-signer or Guarantor
A co-signer or guarantor can strengthen your renter profile, since it increases the chance of having rent paid each month. A co-signer can be another roommate, while a guarantor is someone willing to take on the financial responsibility of covering rent if you’re unable to.
If you’re looking to live alone, then finding a guarantor may be the best option. However, a co-signer can also work if you live with roommates or know someone willing to split rent with you.
4. Get Credit Reference Checks
A credit reference can be a person or business that you have a financial relationship with. Similar to a reference on a resume, credit references can speak to trustworthiness and ability to make on-time payments. Examples of credit references are asset documentations, character references, or buy now, pay later merchant statements.
Apartment Search With an Avail Renter Profile
Renting an apartment after getting evicted is possible with the right steps. Create an Avail Renter Profile to see what’s in your rental history, know what landlords are seeing when they screen your rental application, and develop a plan on finding your next home.
Once you’re ready to begin the process, visit Realtor.com® to find available rentals near you.
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In the United States, 3.6 million legal eviction filings occur annually. Yet, housing experts believe this number is much greater when factoring in illegal evictions that take place each year, despite each state having explicit laws prohibiting them. In 2020, the rental market faced a new challenge; COVID-19. Due to a CDC health safety order instilling a nationwide eviction moratorium, legal evictions across the country hit a historical low. However, illegal evictions continue.
Illegal evictions are still a reality for many renters even during a global pandemic. Illegal evictions have immense consequences for the landlords that carry them out, which is why it is crucial to understand what constitutes an illegal eviction, how they work, and what the aftermath looks like.
What Is an Illegal Eviction?
According to the Eviction Crisis Act of 2019, “The term ‘‘illegal eviction’’ means self-help measures taken outside of the legal process for eviction to recover possession of residential property from a renter, including one residing in a public housing dwelling unit or receiving tenant-based assistance or project-based assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937.”
In other words, an illegal eviction is when a landlord uses force to evict their renter rather than following state eviction guidelines.
What Is a Self-Help Eviction?
A self-help eviction is another term for an illegal eviction, or when a landlord takes their own measures to evict a tenant that are outside legal eviction procedures. The term comes from the idea of a landlord taking evictions into their own hands with no legal oversight. Self-help evictions look just like illegal evictions, and the consequences are the same.
What Does an Illegal Eviction Look Like?
When a landlord takes it upon themselves to illegally evict a renter, the most common measures taken include changing the unit’s locks, removing the renter’s belongings without a court order, removing the front door of the unit, or turning off the unit’s heat and or electricity.
Illegal evictions are not limited to the physical actions a landlord might take; the exaggerating or falsifying of reasons (also known as “just cause”) for evicting a renter are also considered acts of an illegal eviction. This includes claiming a renter breached their lease even when they haven’t or changing the renter’s lease after the renter signed it.
While these forms of illegal eviction are much harder to prove, maintaining documentation of interactions, damages, repairs, and rent payments will help shine a light on any inconsistencies.
When Is it Illegal to Evict a Renter?
Legally, a landlord needs a reason, or “just cause”, to evict a renter. Some examples of this include falling behind on rent payments or breaking the lease in another manner (causing excessive damages, threatening other renters, etc.). Furthermore, a landlord must follow local and state laws that outline the process of legally evicting a renter. This may include giving a 30-day notice, pursuing an eviction filing, and taking legal actions in eviction court against the renter.
With this in mind, an illegal eviction is the opposite; it’s illegal to evict a renter when the landlord has no proof of a breach of contract or missed payments and has not followed eviction guidelines as laid out by the law. This also includes the exaggeration or falsification of facts in order to justify the eviction of a renter — another reason why both renters and landlords should keep all documentation proving rent payments, maintenance issues, and possible complaints or conflict between the renter and landlord or renter and other tenants.
What Are the Consequences of an Illegal Eviction?
Depending on the state where the rental unit is located, the amount by which a renter can sue their landlord after an illegal eviction may vary. Various costs, including damages to personal property, legal costs, and attorney fees, are factored into the amount a landlord will have to pay to their renter if the eviction in question is determined to be illegal. There are also laws in some states that give the renter the right to stay in the rental until the end of the lease if they so choose.
For example, in Alabama, a renter can sue for three months’ rent or actual damages, whichever is greater. If the renter ends the lease, the landlord will have to pay them their entire security deposit plus all unpaid rent. In California, the law states that renters can sue for the cost of damages plus $100 per day of violation, with a $250 dollar minimum.
Because the consequences of illegal evictions change depending on state and local laws, every landlord and renter should be aware of the rights that apply to them in the area where they live.
Because illegal evictions, and evictions in general, can be a difficult topic for both landlords and renters to understand, you can learn more about the legal eviction process here. At the end of the day, it’s always smart for both landlords and renters to have ample documentation of all rent payments, paid or unpaid fees, maintenance requests, and damages to the unit in case this documentation ever needs to be referenced during an eviction process. Using a digital rental management platform like Avail to store this essential rental information can help simplify the documentation process.
It’s important to understand the unique state of evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, no eviction is legally allowed for those who are protected under the CDC’s nationwide eviction moratorium. The consequences of carrying out a legal or illegal eviction during the nationwide eviction moratorium are much more extreme in order to slow the spread of the virus.
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For renters, the topic of evictions can be a scary one to address, and being evicted can be extremely alienating for renters because of its taboo nature. But evictions are actually quite common.
According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, three million non-homeowning people were evicted or forced to move due to the threat of eviction between 2016 and 2018. The stress surrounding evictions only increased when roughly 30 to 40 million people faced possible evictions due to the coronavirus pandemic before the CDC placed a nationwide moratorium on eligible eviction cases.
As evictions come to the forefront of national conversations on renting and housing, it’s important for renters to better understand the eviction process and how to rent an apartment after being evicted. While this article will not discuss the former, it will take on the challenges of the latter — being able to rent post-eviction, whether it is COVID-19 related or not.
Do Evictions Affect Your Credit?
The only way evictions will impact your credit score is if your landlord turns the missed rental payments over to a collection agency, reports the missed payments to a credit bureau, or if any loans were taken out to pay for your rent. In most cases, evictions bar people from renting again because of eviction checks and investigations into your rental history, which will show details of a formal eviction, or one that was upheld by a judge in housing court.
If upheld by a judge, the eviction will become a public record for seven years (according to federal law). This means that any future landlord that runs an eviction check, or even a credit check with information about missed payments, will be able to see your eviction report.
To get a better idea of what a prospective landlord will see if they run a credit check or eviction check, you can check your own rental history. You can do this at any point to know if you will be accepted based on your credit score and previous eviction history.
If an eviction affects your credit score, know that the best way to strengthen your credit score is to pay off all bills and statements (related and unrelated to your rent) completely and in a timely manner. You can also start reporting on-time rent payments to gradually help build your credit score back up to what it was before the eviction.
If an eviction doesn’t affect your credit score but does show up in an eviction report, keep proof of all timely rent payments made to show a prospective landlord that you’ve been able to pay rent since. Even though a prospective landlord might be put off by the prior eviction, your responsibility for making rent payments could allow you to rent with them.
How to Get an Eviction Removed From Your Record
Before searching for a new apartment to rent, your primary goal should be to get your previous eviction erased. This means working with your prior landlord to remove the eviction in exchange for paying all damages or missed rent.
If you can reach an agreement to have your eviction expunged from public record, then a judge will officially remove it, ensuring that no one else will be able to see it. If you were issued an eviction notice, you and your landlord never went to court, and you’re able to reach a private agreement to resolve the issue, be sure to get all parties’ signatures on a written agreement regarding the eviction.
Having an eviction expunged or coming to an agreement with your landlord might take time, but having the eviction removed is preferable to renting with an eviction history.
Getting an eviction expunged can also involve going to housing court, where a judge will hear both your case and your landlord’s to determine if the eviction is legal. This can be costly, but there are various local organizations that help provide legal services for eviction cases at discounted rates, if not for free.
How to Rent an Apartment With an Eviction Record
If you cannot have your eviction lifted, then understand that you might have to spend more money, provide more information about yourself, and work harder to gain your prospective landlord’s trust.
This can include asking a prospective landlord how they feel about renting to someone with a prior eviction while answering any questions they might have about your previous housing situation and what led you to be evicted.
If you’re in a city or state that allows a landlord to request more than first and last month’s rent, or more than a security deposit equal to one month’s rent, you might be asked to offer more money up front in the form of move-in fees, security deposits, first month’s rent, or multiple month’s rent in advance. For some landlords, this shows that you have a financial stake in the place — something that can outweigh a previous eviction.
Other ways of gaining a landlord’s trust can be by providing a few letters of recommendation from previous landlords, employers, or those who can vouch for your responsibility. You can also use a co-signer or rent with roommates who have good credit to further make your case, as you won’t be the only party responsible for covering rent.
Apartments That Accept Evictions
Another way to rent an apartment after being evicted is to narrow your search to those that are eviction-friendly. These apartments might have landlords that don’t run or require credit or eviction checks. These landlords are often local to the area and smaller in scale, with a couple of private units rather than a large apartment corporation. They can be more flexible when it comes to renting to those who have a prior eviction.
You will have a better chance of making your case to a landlord that oversees eviction-friendly apartments or does not run any credit or eviction checks. These rentals are difficult to find, so working with a broker can make the search a bit easier.
How Long Does an Eviction Stay on Your Record?
Finally, you can wait for seven years until the eviction is cleared from public records. While this will take significantly longer than other possible options, knowing that your eviction will eventually be removed can be a relief. The amount of time it takes to be removed (seven years) is based on federal law, but individual states can be sooner as they each have their own laws regarding the removal of evictions from public records, so look into your own state’s laws to see what that might look like.
Renting with an eviction isn’t easy, and finding your next place after being evicted might take some time. But being aware of what you can do as a renter to make your case to a prospective landlord will help the process. When you find your next apartment, be sure that you’re getting the most out of your on-time rent payments with a service like CreditBoost*, which helps renters build up their credit score by paying rent on time.
*CreditBoost results may vary by individual.
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Going through an eviction isn’t an ideal outcome for landlords or their tenants. Surprisingly though, the eviction process is more common than you think — according to the U.S. Federal Reserve, roughly 3 million non-homeowners were evicted or forced to move due to the threat of eviction between 2016 and 2018.
While some evictions are unavoidable, there are best practices that landlords should follow to rent responsibly and prevent evictions altogether, including properly screening tenants and signing lawyer-approved, state-compliant lease agreements. Here’s what every landlord needs to know about the eviction process.
What Is an Eviction?
People often associate the word “eviction” with the physical act of the tenant being expelled from a rental property. In actuality, an eviction is a lengthy legal process. This process starts with an eviction notice, frequently in the form of a Pay or Quit Notice, and if necessary, culminates in an Unlawful Detainer, which is carried out by local law enforcement.
According to TransUnion, the average eviction-related cost to landlords is approximately $3,500, and an eviction can take as long as three to four weeks to complete. When comparing this cost to the low price of tenant screening, the results speak for themselves — thorough tenant screening is a less expensive and time-saving alternative. Using a lease agreement that’s already been reviewed by lawyers can also ensure both parties are aware of the processes set in place in the case of an eviction.
Before initiating the eviction process, it may be worth discussing options with tenants directly. Finding a solution before going to court may save significant time and money in the long run, and ultimately, most tenants don’t want to be evicted, since a legal eviction will be reported against the tenant for seven years. When possible, it’s in the best interest of both landlords and tenants to come to an agreement together.
Learn more: Do you have grounds for an eviction?
What Are the Steps in the Legal Eviction Process?
To help you know how to break a lease as a landlord, we outlined four steps to take that can help make the eviction process go smoothly.
1. Pay or Quit Notice
A Pay or Quit notice is designed to provide tenants with a formal warning that they are in violation of the lease. This will provide the tenant with specific instructions to comply with their lease and advise the number of days allowed before an eviction is brought to court.
As a landlord, it is best to provide a Pay or Quit Notice (sometimes called a Pay or Vacate Notice) by certified mail. This ensures that there is a legal record of the date that notice was provided. It is common practice to post the notice of eviction to the door of the property, but this should only be done in addition to sending the notice by certified mail.
When going through an eviction, it is of the utmost importance to act professionally and to comply with state and federal laws. Before providing an eviction notice, check the laws for your state to confirm the number of days required for notice and confirm there are legal grounds for eviction. If the legal grounds for eviction are met, you can move to the next step of creating a state-specific eviction notice.
2. Eviction Forms and Filing
After a Pay or Quit notice is served, the tenant has a specific number of days to comply with the lease or vacate the property. If the tenant fails to comply within the provided notice period, then an eviction may be filed against the tenant through the courts.
Filing a Forcible Detainer to remove the tenant requires the following forms:
- Eviction complaint: This form starts the eviction case.
- Summons: This informs the tenant about the eviction case.
These forms are to be filed with the court clerk and to be delivered to the tenant through the local sheriff’s office. You can also check the resources provided by the local clerk’s office to see if there are options for filing online.
As a tenant, if you are served with an eviction summons, be sure to follow the instructions for the summons and check the tenant rights for your state. These are designed to help tenants follow the law and provide protection against any unlawful practices by the landlord.
When an eviction is filed through the court, a judge will review the documentation related to the case and issue a ruling. To help prepare for this step, it is best to have a copy of the signed lease, a record of all payments, and a record of any relevant communication between the landlord and the tenant.
Although Avail cannot act as a legal counsel, the platform is designed to help keep landlords and tenants organized with all necessary documentation stored in one place. This includes:
- Applications saved with the legal name, date of birth, and identification of the tenant.
- Legally-binding state leases that have been reviewed by lawyers with time-stamped signatures.
- Online payments recorded with corresponding receipts and late rent notices.
Be sure to prepare for the eviction case by gathering all corresponding documentation for the judge or the jury. After all relevant parties have made their case, a judgment will be issued. This defines the requirements for any money owed, and if applicable, instructions for the expulsion of the tenant.
3. Judgment
The final step in the eviction process is the removal of the tenant and their belongings from the property. Even after an eviction has been awarded to the landlord, harassment or intimidation is absolutely unacceptable and illegal. If the tenant refuses to leave the property voluntarily, then a court order may be brought to local law enforcement to remove the tenant.
Individual states have different requirements for removing a tenant’s personal belongings. Some states require items to be removed through the court process, while other states give landlords free-reign after the property has been vacated. Check your state requirements before removing a tenant’s personal property.
4. Preparing For New Tenants
It’s worth noting that not all evictions are finalized with the court ordering a Forcible Detainer of a tenant. Throughout the court proceedings, the tenant may agree to comply with an alternate order. Examples of these include an Agreed Move-Out and Compliance, Dismissal with Leave to Reinstate, or a Pay-and-Stay Agreement. These options are generally better for both the landlord and the tenant, because they result in the landlord receiving payment and the tenant having the option to stay in the property.
It’s important to note that some circumstances will add additional steps to the eviction process. Legal representation may be useful to understand the requirements of a particular case.
Some circumstances that may affect or lengthen the eviction process are the following:
- Accepting partial or full rent payments will negate the eviction process.
- If the tenant declares bankruptcy, the eviction process is put on hold until bankruptcy proceedings are finalized.
- Once the tenant has moved out, the landlord typically still has to prepare the property for turnover to the next tenants. Depending on any potential damage caused by the evicted tenant, this could take additional time, and sometimes lead to additional lawsuits.
Evictions can be costly, and due to the variables that can affect the length and outcome of the eviction process, it’s always best to avoid evictions in the first place.
Learn more: When is an eviction illegal?
How Much Does an Eviction Cost?
There are quite a few costs associated with evicting a tenant, including attorneys fees, court costs, lost rent, turnover costs, and property damages. As mentioned previously, the cost to break a lease is approximately $3,500.
Even if a landlord wins a financial judgement against the tenant, many landlords are still unable to collect payment from those tenants. According to the American Collectors Association, the success rate for debt collection after an eviction is only 17%.
How Long Does an Eviction Take?
Along with the high cost of an eviction, the process can take weeks to complete. An eviction typically takes from three to four weeks to run its course, but is dependent on your state laws, the specific eviction case and other factors.
Access Free Lawyer-Reviewed Lease Agreements
The eviction process can be lengthy, expensive, and harmful to both landlords and tenants. Investing in tenant screening and creating lease agreements that have been reviewed by lawyers is the easiest way to be protected when evicting a tenant. Create an account today to make your own lease agreement that’s state-specific, lawyer-approved, and legally binding — all for free.
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Ideally, the only tenants who live in your property are the ones who pay to do so. However, in some rare cases, individuals or groups of people may take up residence in your rental property.
It can be devastating to discover that someone has been living in your rental without your knowledge, but there are essential steps that a landlord needs to take to resolve the situation with respect to the regulations that protect tenant rights.
To explain what landlords need to know about squatters, Avail spoke with Ryan Bradley, a partner at Koester & Bradley, about what landlords need to know before evicting unauthorized tenants.
What Are Squatter Rights?
Unauthorized tenants, otherwise known as squatters, are individuals or groups of people who have resided in a property that they don’t own or pay to rent.
Generally speaking, rules regarding squatters usually include the occupant’s right to not be displaced from the property without notice. Most regulations require landlords to serve unauthorized tenants with an eviction notice either via mail or through their local police department, Bradley explained. The regulations surrounding squatters tend to treat them much like renters who fail to pay their rent, he said, adding that landlords can’t just kick them out of the property on their own.
“There’s no good reason for a landlord, either on their own or through the use of a third party, to have contact with the person who’s there,” Bradley said. “It ends badly. That’s precisely why the statute is trying to avoid any type of altercation.”
Adverse possession laws allow squatters — after paying the homeowners’ association fees, taxes, and other costs associated with the property after a set period of time — to obtain ownership of the property, according to FindLaw. After the time period outlined under your state’s adverse possession law has passed, if the squatters remain, the individual who pays the property taxes and utilities will legally be able to gain the title of the home, Bradley explained. This period can vary from 7 to 20 years.
For other important landlord regulations, check out the Avail guide to state-specific landlord-tenant laws.
Why Do Squatters Have Rights?
Drawing from Great Britain’s property laws, the U.S. squatter laws were meant to distinguish where each property owners’ land began and ended, Bradley said.
Historically speaking, Patrick Sission reports in Curbed, squatters rights also developed in the U.S. as residents of big cities sought affordable housing and protections for everyday individuals. This paved the way for displaced peoples to creatively revamp abandoned spaces.
Which States Have Squatters Rights?
Just about every state has owners regulating squatters rights but, of course, Bradley said, they vary. States and municipalities’ housing regulations typically govern how landlords handle evictions, especially of squatters, he said. Landlords who have the means to do so could hire an attorney to understand what regulations apply to unauthorized tenants, or they could go about the process of evicting them themselves, he added.
How to Evict a Squatter
As mentioned before, your state and municipality will likely have regulations as to how to treat unauthorized occupants of your property. If you decide to file eviction paperwork without a lawyer, you could amend your filings or postpone hearings if you need more time, Bradley suggests. As you consider whether to hire a lawyer to walk you through the eviction process, here are some guidelines from FindLaw for what landlords need to know before evicting squatters:
- Determine if they are squatters or trespassers. Landlords need to know whether people have occupied their properties temporarily or over a long period of time, as the regulations governing trespassers and squatters differ. “If it’s a super short period of time, a couple of weeks or a month or something like that, that’s just a criminal breaking-and-entering situation,” Bradley said. In that case, landlords should just call the police and report the break-in.
- Start the eviction process. After filing for eviction, you could also file an unlawful detainer lawsuit if the squatters refuse to vacate. If they remain after the lawsuit, you’ll likely need to go to the police station or sheriff’s office to remove them from the property.
- Be mindful of adverse possession laws. Don’t wait too long to start eviction proceedings. Failure to file the eviction process quickly could put the ownership in the hands of the squatters under adverse possession laws. “The second you call them on it and you file something in court, it stops that [adverse possession requirement] clock,” Bradley said.
- Remember the consequences of an illegal eviction. Though evicting a squatter and illegally evicting a tenant is different, it’s better to be safe and follow all eviction laws in your area than face any unintended consequences.
In his experience, squatter evictions typically occur when larger real estate firms purchase distressed properties in urban or rural areas or foreclosed properties, Bradley explained. These kinds of evictions rarely occur among independent landlords because they often have a better understanding of their tenants and their properties.
Keep an Eye on Your Property
The best way to keep squatters out of your property is to regularly visit and maintain it. If you’re juggling landlord duties with your other responsibilities, check out our advice on balancing the management of your property with living your life.
Beyond monitoring who’s in your property, it’s also essential for landlords to find quality tenants in the first place and communicate with them throughout their stay. Avail can help you thoroughly screen potential tenants so you can be confident that you’re signing the lease with a tenant who will pay rent and uphold their responsibilities.
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Our team of highly skilled software engineers have worked hard to upgrade our integration with TransUnion. This upgraded integration has three benefits for our landlords: improved evictions reporting, unbundled pricing, and control over who pays for the screening reports.
For landlords who have used Avail to screen tenants, the change means that we are now giving you more information and more control for the same low price.
These updates are designed to help the 150,000+ landlords who use our platform to be efficient and profitable. If you’re not already using Avail, get started for free now.
Improved Evictions Reporting
One of the best ways to deal with problems is to avoid them before they occur. As a landlord, the most important thing you can do is avoid problem tenants. These tenants will cause hours of headaches and cost you thousands of dollars.
Fortunately, if you follow a thorough tenant screening process, you’ll be able to identify problem tenants before signing a lease.
One of the best ways to tell if a tenant will cause problems is knowing if he or she has ever been evicted from another rental property.
An eviction oftentimes means that the tenant caused damage to a rental or refused to pay rent. As a landlord, renting to these people is not worth the risk.
To help you avoid renting to tenants with prior evictions, we are now providing you with easy access to Nationwide Tenant Eviction Checks.
Our eviction reports pull from millions of records of eviction data from across the United States. You now have all the information you need to make an educated, informed decision.
Tenants can authorize you to view their eviction reports in just a few clicks. As soon as they complete the authorization, the reports will be available instantly inside your Avail landlord account.
Knowledge is power. Be a powerful, informed landlord.
Updated, Unbundled Pricing
One of the questions that we frequently receive from landlords is whether they can purchase only the credit report or only the criminal background report. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been possible in the past. Things are different now.
We are excited to introduce a la carte pricing for our credit reports, nationwide criminal background reports, and new nationwide eviction reports.
In the past, there was only one option – to purchase the credit reports and criminal background checks together for $55.
We are now giving you the option to purchase the credit report for $35, the criminal background report for $30, and the eviction report for $35. If you want just two reports, the cost is $50. If you want all three reports, there’s a large discount, for a total cost of only $55.
This new pricing provides more flexibility to you, our amazing landlords.
Despite offering unbundled pricing, we still encourage you to thoroughly screen all prospective tenants by requiring each person to authorize all three reports.
It’s still 100% free to request online rental applications from prospective tenants.
Don’t already use Avail? It’s free for your first unit. Get started today.
Control Over Who Pays
Although I require all prospective tenants to pay the tenant screening fees (I use the small fee as a way to screen tenants and see who’s serious), I understand that some landlords prefer to cover the costs themselves.
Based on the significant number of landlords asking for the ability to pay for the reports themselves, our team built this functionality.
Landlords who use Avail to screen prospective tenants now have the ability to choose whether to pay for the reports, or to require tenants to pay for these fees.
More than 150,000 landlords use Avail to manage properties in 17,000 zip codes across the United States. If you haven’t given our platform a try, you can get started here for free.
In addition to screening tenants, you can also create online rental listings to find tenants, create and electronically sign rental lease agreements, and collect rent online.
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