Background Screen RV Tenants?

Question

A mobile home park has a few spaces reserved for RVs. Many of the RV tenants are seasonal workers and usually rent a space for 4-5 months on a monthly rental agreement before moving on. Is it necessary to do background checks for such short-term tenants?

Answer

Even though some of your RV tenants are short-termers, I always recommend a complete tenant background check no matter how long the anticipated tenancy. As a businessperson, you have an obligation to ensure that every RV tenant checks out with a background screening for criminal, credit and eviction history. As a landlord, you have an obligation by law to ensure the peaceful enjoyment of the premises by not allowing potential problem tenants into the park.

Most problems can be avoided by doing your due diligence at the beginning of the tenancy with proper background screening. The fact that these tenants are more transient than usual doesn’t matter.

In some cases, it is even more important to check on transient tenants. By way of example, one mobile home park client allowed a woman with an RV into the park without any background check. The woman ended up being a “professional tenant” who worked the system, stopped paying rent, and dragged out the eviction process for several months. She later popped up at another mobile home client’s park and pulled the same scam.

If someone wants to be a tenant in your park, always conduct your usual background screening check.