5 Essential Steps for taking on a New Tenant

Taking on a new tenant in your Dubai property is essential if you're a landlord. There are, however, important checks you need to make before accepting a tenant into your property. You need to know exactly who you're dealing with, to help prevent you from taking on a troublesome tenant. So what key five checks should you perform?

1. Criminal background check

Firstly you need to check if your prospective tenant has a criminal record. They may have outstanding convictions against them which prevent them from being a desirable tenant for you. The Dubai Police Department should be happy to furnish you with a Certificate of Good Conduct for any potential tenant. 

2. Credit score

The next step is to check the financial history of your tenant. This may include things such as unpaid rent on previous properties, outstanding credit card bills, or maybe even bankruptcy. If your tenant has a history of difficulty paying their bills, it may be hard to collect your rent from them. 

3. References

As a part of the checking process, it's wise to ascertain where the tenant has lived previously and make contact with their landlord there. They will be able to tell you whether or not they were a "good tenant" and whether they left on good terms or not - though remember there are two sides to every story.

4. Employment verification

You want your tenant to be able to afford to pay their rent on time, which means making sure they are employed as they say they are. Ask the tenant to see some examples of recent payslips, or a contract with their employer in which their salary is declared as proof of ability to pay rent. 

5. Social media scan

Type your prospective tenant's name into a search engine and see what comes up - their social media presence can tell you a lot about the person you are letting into your property. It can help you to determine if their character is good and that the information you find matches what they've given you. 

These five checks save Dubai landlords a litany of headaches - don't miss them out.