Verity journal

In Malaysia, the eviction process can be a complete nightmare! In the event that you’ve got a problematic tenant that is constantly damaging your property or has not paid rent for three months, it could take between six to nine months at the Sessions Court for an eviction order to finally be issued! What’s worse? It could cost up to RM25,000 or more to do so!

Renting out your property can come with great risks as getting an incompatible tenant can be a time-consuming and costly affair.

While tenancy agreements can help secure your interests to some extent, it is always better to have a preventive measure like tenant pre-screenings in place.

Here’s five reasons why you should pre-screen your tenants!

1. Find out who they really are!

With the modern age of technology, it is very easy to forge identity credentials. Minimise this risk with tenant screening, as this allows landlords to see below the surface through identity verifications, financial health checks, employment, civil records, and criminality checks.

2. What if you rented to a criminal?

As mentioned above, a tenant screening report would include criminality checks that can help red-flag people with a checkered past. I am sure no one wants their property to be a part of a money laundering or illegal operation used for unscrupulous activities! Nor do you want to find out that your entire house has been cleared out because your tenant is a known thief! With a tenant screening report, you can prevent yourself from getting involved with unsavoury characters.  

3. Find out if they are good for the money!

A financial check can help showcase how reliable a person is in managing debts and credit. The better they are at managing their finances, the more peace of mind you would have at collecting rent. Having a thorough report helps you make informed decisions before you and your prospective tenant sign the dotted line on the tenancy agreement.

4. Prevention is better than paying for damages!

They say a stitch in time saves nine and that can ring true in a situation like this. While some may consider this to be an extra step in securing a tenant, early detection of red-flags can help landlords protect their investments, minimise risk of unnecessary tenancy that can lead to property damage or financial loss.

5. Tenant screenings is affordable!

A major misconception about screening practices is that it is expensive. That is untrue. A background screening only costs a few hundred ringgit. Give yourself peace of mind and safeguard yourself from potentially having to go to court in order to get an eviction notice, which would take time, waste your money and risk potential damage to your property from a potential nightmare tenant!