Verity journal

Background Screening for Tenants

There’s an old Malaysian adage that goes along the lines of “Want to make more money ah? Buy a house and rent out lor.” We joke, but only a little. Local wisdom has it that owning and leasing out property is one of the ways to ensure a steady income and to inject some financial stability into your life. Buying a home of any shape or size is set as a life goal, ingrained in children by their parents, part of a cycle that goes back generations.

And so you buy a house.

And then you put out an ad for tenants.

But getting tenants means leaving your hard-earned, much-coveted, long awaited-for property in the hands of virtual strangers. We’ve all heard the horror stories in the news and in the neighbourhood WhatsApp group chat – of unruly tenants who throw parties at ungodly hours; renters who pay the rent late, if at all; those who indulge in shenanigans which require massive cleaning bills and perhaps an overhaul of the entire property. There are listicles on how to look out for ‘nightmare’ tenants and their ilk, and panels where landlords come together to discuss how they can protect their rights within the Malaysian legal landscape.

It’s not just an issue of protecting your property, but also a matter of ensuring the security of yourselves and your loved ones. Criminals look just like us, and cases involving theft, robbery, defacing of property, and even fraud are just some of the things you expose yourself to when you open your doors to people you do not know.

In other words, being a landlord is a full-time job.

What steps can you take as a landlord to protect yourself and yours?

The answer is glaringly simple.

Background screenings are nom de rigueur for industries in which security clearance is needed, and in an ecosystem where the stakes are as high as leasing one’s property, there is no reason why it can’t be part of the renting process. While it may sound like a highly complicated method, the truth is that background screening is as simple as you want it to be, and Verity Plus Online was especially designed to ensure that the process is uncomplicated and easy to navigate. The privacy of the potential tenants would also be protected, as the tool is not invasive and matches publicly available information with those provided by the potential tenants.

As another Malaysian adage famously says, “To prevent is far better than to cure.” And there is no punchline to this saying – just the simple truth that being proactive in protecting yourself and your livelihood comes at a far lower cost than to suffer the repercussions of going in with your eyes closed.

Protect yourself with VerityPlusOnline.com, or find out more on background screening at www.verityonline.com.

#TenantScreening #BackgroundScreening