1. Honesty and integrity are extremely important, but not always obvious at first glance. The landlord has to try and assess the person’s character upon meeting them. This is not as easy as you might think. Talking to people who rented to this individual in the past may help in determining whether or renting to them is a good idea.

2. The ability to find someone with good credit is the gold standard for any landlord. If you see red flags go up prior to signing the rental lease form, do not sign the agreement. Spend a little money checking on the credit of the person. It will pay off in the long run if you avoid problems by knowing the person who is renting.

3. Will the tenant be able to pay? This goes hand in hand with good credit, but is not the same thing. Good credit is about the past, whether or not this person can pay goes to the future. Find out about where this person works. If the company is not stable, and sometimes even if it is, the job may end at any time. What will happen if this person loses his or her job?

4. Some say, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” That goes for renters as much as for anyone else. A landlord should check out how clean they left their former residences. Was a huge pile of junk left behind? Do they leave trash piled up outside their door? This might be difficult to investigate, but do your best. If they have had issues in the past, include information about keeping common areas clean in the rental lease form – or, better yet, do not rent to them.

5. This last point seems obvious, respect. You have to hope the tenant will respect the property enough to avoid putting holes in the walls, being rude to the neighbors, leaving trash around or other disrespectful actions. Some people just do not care about anything that is not theirs. If the tenant does not respect the property, the landlord can keep all or part of the security deposit. It is better if they leave things the way they found them.

As a landlord, do your homework. A little bit of labor now will avoid problems in the future. You need to get as much information about your lessee before they sign anything. Once the rental lease form is signed, it might be too late.