How do i search for L&T court checks / actions for prospective tenant?

Hi guys, new landlord here, after doing some research on the forums i keep seeing advice to see if a prospective tenant has wound up in Landlord and Tenant court. How do i execute a search like this? do i need a lawyer to do it? thanks in advance… sidewalksurfing

sidewalksurfing

in Roofers 9 years and 4 months ago

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jakester | 9 years and 4 months ago

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I’ve used smartmove.com with a lot of success in the past. It’s an all in one credit/criminal/eviction report. As @megskelt suggested, I have the prospective tenants pay for it as part of their application fee.

rdl1972 | 9 years and 4 months ago

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First couple of tenants went the Craigslist route , never got burned. I almost did and it made me rethink , I now use a liscensed broker . The tenant pays , so it doesn’t really matter to me . A prospective tenant will have to cough up 3 months upfront , to beat me for 5 months and get a bad name . I like the idea of building a relationship with local RE professionals. For me ethical broker is the way to go.

megskelt | 9 years and 4 months ago

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As a broker and a multifamily property owner, I’m very familiar with the screening process. There is nothing worse than “surprises” from new tenants. And as @primebrooklyn mentioned, I have access to all the information you would need including credit checks, sex offender reports, eviction notices, past residences, etc.. Theses reports should always be at the expense of the potential tenant, not the owner. Shoot me an email @ megan.skelton@corcoran.com and we can chat about it in more detail.

vnivola | 9 years and 4 months ago

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I use an organization called National Tenant Network which you can find at NTNonline.com. You can subscribe to use their services, and they will run whatever checks you choose to pay for such as Credit Reports, Criminal Background Checks, Verification of Employment, and Research into whether the applicant has ever been evicted or been in Landlord/Tenant Court. They have live human beings to help you, and are always available by phone. I HIGHLY recommend them. Hope that helps!

crash_nyc | 9 years and 4 months ago

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Come on, this is New York City! I just ask for two years rent up front…

fiordiligi | 9 years and 4 months ago

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I use Amerusa.net. You just set up a small landlord account on their website, get the applicant/tenant to sign a consent form and provide personally identifying information, and copy AmerUsa on same. The applicant reimburses you for the fee, and authorizes you to have AmerUsa check criminal records, civil cases, employment verifications, driving records, personal identity verifications, and credit reports. (You can select whatever checks you want on the website.) Since L/T is a civil court, those cases are covered. Most RE agents aren’t as thorough, the query is processed promptly (and the analysis doesn’t come back in code, like some credit reports offered by RE agents), and it isn’t very expensive. I’ve vetted four tenants through this service now, and have no complaints about any of them.

landlord | 9 years and 4 months ago

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That link did not work for me as well. Looked for a tenant I took to court and kicked out in 2013

primebrooklyn | 9 years and 4 months ago

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As a property manager, I have access to these national L & T court records, as well as all the other sex offender, terrorist watch lists, credit reports etc… to check tenants backgrounds. If you’re planning on renting out a unit, your neighborhood broker could easily handle running all these reports for you as well. Of course, will cost money to run all these reports, but smarter move in the long run and tenants usually are the ones who pay for these reports to be submitted to the landlord.

bedstuytownhouse | 9 years and 4 months ago

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I tried this link as a test with some former tenants we evicted for non-payment and they didn’t come up so I’m not sure how reliable it is.

mozeeatupu | 9 years and 4 months ago

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You try google? https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcivilLocal/LCMain