I ask this because in my over 40 years as a property manager, I have seen where it used to take 3 days to screen a rental applicant, it now can take less than 15 minutes. I remember calling the credit bureau, giving my firm's passcode and the applicant's SS# and it would get a call back the next day with very sketchy credit information. Originally I would take the information down long-hand and then the credit bureau gave us sheets that we could use to fill in the information - this was BEFORE faxes and computers. I would call employers and I would call current and past landlords....all VERY time consuming.
Now all of this information including current and past landlords is available online. Judgements are available online and many LARGE multi-unit properties are reporting residents' credit accounts MONTHLY just like a retail account.
I suspect the next generation of PM software will have this capability via DSL which may require our offices to be more secure and employee turnover more costly in changing passwords and software education.
As more and more landlords, big and small, rely on technology to give us the tools and resources to do our jobs, applicants who have made poor credit choices in the past will have a harder time finding good rental housing.
Comments(11)