Why Should You Conduct Tenant Screening Background Checks?

Wouldn’t it be nice is every tenant paid on time and worked hard to make sure they didn’t disturb their neighbours? Tenant screening can help you find the ideal occupant for your property by helping your learn everything you need to know about your potential tenants. There are plenty of great tenants out there, and tenant screening will help you make sure you choose the right one.

The screening process will help you determine if you’re choosing the right tenant. Most screening processes include a criminal background check, credit report, employment references, and rental history. But what if the screening process all checks out fine … but there is still something “off” about the potential new tenant?

Here are some red flags to watch out for:

• Negative opiniona about current or previous landlord
• Bad references (especially a poor reference from a landlord)
• Unexplained “rush” to move in (could indicate a previous eviction) 
• Aggressive pets
• Late arrival to rental showing
• Different people show up for the viewing than previously discussed
• Excessive criticism of property before they move in
• Frequent relocation
• History living with relatives or at motels
• Frequent job changes
• Inability to pay deposit prior to move-in date
• Unprofessional phone or email correspondence
• Promises to “update” your property … at no cost
• Income that is less than 2.5 – 3 times the monthly rent
• Prior eviction(s)
• Unexplained nervousness regarding the screening process 

And of course, a criminal record and poor credit history are the biggest red flags to consider.

A thorough tenant screening process will ensure will cover your bases and protect you from losses related to late/no payments and property damage. Everything that is on your screening application should be verified – don’t take your tenant’s word for it! Protect yourself and your property with a background check.

Property managers and landlords use The Renwick Group background checks to screen their potential tenants. We offer many instant background checks for tenant screening, including credit reports and criminal records.

Contact us today for more information about our tenant screening services.


The Renwick Group has experience working with many different types of businesses and organizations providing skip-tracing, fraud investigations, WSIB support, legal team assistance, evidence gathering, employee background checks, and more. We also work with individuals who need help with personal matters. Call us at 1 (888) 722-9807 or visit our website for information.

Identify Falsified Resumés Before a Background Check

Background checks are the most effective way to identify potential problems prior to hiring a new employee.

More than 40% of resumés contain false or tweaked information!

While a background check will identify issues such as addictions, poor credit and criminal activity, they are typically conducted near the end of the hiring process. You can screen your stack of resumés to identify false information and inconsistencies, allowing you to minimize the amount of interviews and subsequent background checks.


The most commonly falsified areas on a resumé include:

1. Employment History

2. Job Skills

3. Education Credentials

4. Salary and Job Title

Now that we have identified the main areas of embellishment, here are some things to look for to help you recognize false information:

1. Unexplained Gaps in Employment. This is the most obvious red flag. An unexplained gap could mean the job applicant has a history of being fired or leaving jobs often. You should also check to make sure dates of employment line-up during your reference checks.

2. Unusual Periods of Self-Employment. This is a tactic that can be used to fill gaps in employment. Candidates may have asked friends or family to act as clients and provide reference checks.

3. Reluctance to Explain a Reason for Leaving a Job. A job applicant who isn’t forthcoming with the reason for leaving a job most likely left on bad terms. Give them the opportunity to explain their reluctance – there may be a confidentiality or privacy issue that cannot be disclosed.

4. Minimal Details. Most resumés will include a job title, organization name and location, alongside a job description. A resumé lacking any of those details may indicate job history discrepancies.

5. Careful Wording or Self-Acclamation. Watch for misleading wording or omitted information. A bachelor’s degree that has no listed graduation date or an unfamiliar educational institution may indicate false information. In addition, self-acclamation's such as “award-winning” should be collaborated with credentials.

6. Unverifiable Information. Gaps on a resumé, job positions, self-employment. Most social media sites provide an opportunity to cross-check information for inconsistencies.

Following these tips should help you sift through job applications and create a short-list. From here, you can conduct interviews and background checks to ensure you’re making the correct hiring decision. Most importantly, remember to trust your instincts and if you think you’ve found the right candidate, give them the opportunity to discuss any issues you have found on their resumé.

The Renwick Group has experience working with many different types of businesses and organizations providing skip-tracing, fraud investigations, WSIB support, legal team assistance, evidence gathering, employee background checks, and more. We also work with individuals who need help with personal matters. Call us at 1 (888) 722-9807 or visit our website for more contact information.

Trends in Pre-Employment Screening Services

The Renwick Group provides full pre-employment screening services to our clients.  We've noticed that this arera of business is changing rapidly, both from the applicant and employer sides, primarily due to new technologies being introduced. 

 

Here is the Wikipedia entry that helps to update us on new trends in Pre Employment Screening.

 

The Market

 

Larger companies are more likely to outsource than their smaller counterparts – the average staff size of the companies who outsource is 3,313 compared to 2,162 for those who carry out in-house checks.

Primary step will be to screen the resume from a list of prospective applicants. A preliminary telephonic or web based interview is held to identify the range of discrepancy within the resume and the interviewee. Such a move also helps to identify whether the resume is professionally written, elaborated or involve resume fraud. Further a series of resumes are shortlisted.

 

Financial services firms outsource the service the most, with over a quarter (26%) doing so, compared to an overall average of 16% who outsource vetting to a third party provider.

 

However, recent research by Powerchex shows a reverse in the trend. They found that in the 2006/7 period CV discrepancies had fallen by 31% to 13%.

Background Verification

Pre-screening background verification and post-interview background checks are two strategies that are involved in pre-employment screening. Pre-screening background verification is deployed when the even the interview will contain data or information which are vital for the organization to disclose. Such a strategy is used mostly in the Military, strategic industries and higher levels of employees. While post-hiring background verification occurs once the resumes are shortlisted for pre-employment screening.

Third party background verification firms allow candidates to screen their own backgrounds on basis of identity, address, references, criminal background checks, drug test, financial records, court record checks and driving license verification and to verify the authenticity of their resume. Such a strategy allows candidates to gain a preferential advantage as it reduces background check expenses from the point of view of the recruiter.

Male/female

It is alleged that men stand a higher chance of clearing the pre-employment screening than women. However equality of opportunity gives women an equal platform for employment as some firms like Facebook, Google insist the candidates not to disclose about their gender during pre-employment screening. This reduces gender bias during stages of pre-employment screening. Women are marginally more likely to have a discrepancy on their CV: 13% of applicants submitted by women have a discrepancy compared to only 10% of those for men.

Impact of qualifications

Graduates have marginally less discrepancies: 13% of their CVs contain a discrepancy compared to 17% of non-graduates.

Impact of seniority and age

Since Equal Opportunity or Equality of Opportunity is considered important and ethical in the job market, seniority of age is left to question in the preliminary stages of pre-employment screening.

 

However the age of the candidate can be verified from various documents that are mandatory to be submitted. However the recent trend is to follow the equality of opportunity to all the candidates at the preliminary stages of screening. Someone in a junior administrative position is 23% more likely to have a discrepancy on their CV than in a managerial role. An applicant aged under 20 is 26% more likely to have a discrepancy than a 51-60 year old.

 

The Renwick Group Provides Full Pre Employment Screening Services - www.therenwickgroup.ca

 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trends_in_pre-employment_screening

Job Fraud Really Happens and You need To Spot It

Job Fraud

Here is an interesting article I want to share with you from Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia.  It helps to set the definition of job fraud and highlights how we at The Renwick Group (www.therenwickgroup.ca) can help employers vet and screen applicants - during the job search.
 

Job fraud refers to fraudulent or deceptive activity or representation on the part of an employee or prospective employee toward an employer. It is not to be confused with employment fraud, where an employer scams job seekers or fails to pay wages for work performed. There are several types of job frauds that employees or potential employees commit against employers. While some may be illegal under jurisdictional laws, others do not violate law but may be held by the employer against the employee or applicant.

Résumé fraud

Résumé fraud or application fraud refers to any act that involves providing fictitious, exaggerated, or otherwise misleading information on a job application or résumé in hopes of persuading a potential employer to hire an applicant for a job they may be unqualified for or less qualified than other applicants.[1] Depending on the nature of the offense, the type of job, and the jurisdiction where it occurs, such an act may or may not be a violation of criminal law. In any case, knowingly providing inaccurate information to an employer or potential employer, if discovered by the employer, is almost always grounds for immediate dismissal from the job or else denial of that job.

Trends

A number of annual reports, including BDO Hayward's Fraudtrack 4[2] and CIFAS,[3] the UK's fraud prevention service, has shown a rising level of major discrepancies and embellishments on curriculum vitae (CV) over previous years.

Business fraud cost UK businesses £1.4 billion in 2005.[4]

Recent research released by Powerchex has confirmed this trend. Having measured 3,876 applicants to the UK financial sector over the past year, they found that 17% of potential candidates embellished their CV, and found a trend between a graduate's choice of university and their likelihood to lie on their CV.[5][6]

Effects

Almost half (48%) of organizations with fewer than 100 staff experienced problems with vetted employees.

39% of UK organizations have experienced a situation where their vetting procedures have allowed an employee to be hired who was later found to have lied or misrepresented themselves in their application.[7]

Demographics

Younger, more junior people are more likely to have a discrepancy on their CV. Someone in a junior administrative position is 23% more likely to have a discrepancy on their CV than in a managerial role. An applicant aged under 20 is 26% more likely to have a discrepancy than a 51-60 year old.[8]

Women are marginally more likely to have a discrepancy on their CV: 13% of applications submitted by women have a discrepancy compared to only 10% of those for men.[9]

Graduates have marginally fewer discrepancies: 13% of their CVs contain a discrepancy compared to 17% of non-graduates.

Types

Fake credentials:  Some applicants provide false documents that are required or strongly recommended to obtain a job. These may include a degree, license, certificate, or other evidence of necessary training or experience that is expected of applicants.

Fictitious former employer(s):  The applicant provides a list of previous employers that they never worked for, and that may have never existed. They may include fake reference letters that vouch for the applicant. Absence of contact information may seem plausible if the applicant claims they are no longer in business, living far away, or otherwise out of touch.

Fake "live" employer(s):  The applicant arranges with a relative or friend to pose as a former boss. The applicant provides a phone number or other contact information, and when the prospective employer contacts this person, they receive a glowing report about the applicant. Since the widespread use of email, this form of communication may also be used by the applicants themselves to pose as former employers.

Exaggerated claims:  The applicant lists a genuine former employer, but leaves out information with the intent to mislead. The employer may have a prestigious reputation, but the applicant's position may have been menial.

Examples of résumé fraud

The applicant gets past the "20 second resume cull" by making bold statements such as "1st place Academic Standing: Session 1, 2005 and Session 2, 2004", and only later qualifying it as being "First place academic standing amongst Information Systems and Management (ISM) scholars"

The applicant makes exaggerated or untrue claims, such as having won prizes or other recognition. Similarly, an applicant may claim a scholarship was "for the most outstanding student entering the University" when in fact multiple scholarships were awarded.

The applicant refers to unknown, unverifiable awards, such as a "Silver Medallion for Academic Excellence.", or an "Emeritus Professor Prize".
  
The applicant selectively reports, and uses unofficial terms: rather than reporting an overall grade of credit, reports a "Distinction Average in Finance; High Credit Average in Law."; similarly, a "Distinction average on all core information systems subjects" helps circumvent unflattering grades in information systems electives and other courses. Both "High Credit" and "core information systems subjects" are not defined by the university, and thus are used with impunity.

Fraud by active employees

There are other forms of fraudulent methods that employees of jobs use to obtain payroll money from an employer without actually performing any work. These involve blatant cheating, and do not include those who perform at a sub par level.

These include:

Swiping in absence:  The employee arrives at the job site at the beginning of the shift and swipes in to report to work. The employee promptly departs, and the absence goes unnoticed in a large workplace. At the end of the shift, the employee returns to swipe out.

False signature:  The employee who is supposed to obtain a supervisor's signature to verify having worked signs the form themselves after skipping work. Such acts are usually possible with temp agencies, where contractors are sent to a variety of job sites, and are not known personally by those they would work with.
  
Training pay:  An applicant obtains a job that will include a fixed amount of paid training. Once the training is finished, the applicant promptly quits. The applicant's original purpose was to obtain pay for training, but not do any further work. Many employers who function this way combat this problem by withholding payment for training until a certain amount of work has been performed.

Depending on the nature of the offense, these violations may be grounds for criminal prosecution and/or civil proceedings.

References

 "Combat Resume Fraud". Inquest Pre Employment Screening. Archived from the original on 2007-03-02. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
    Fraudtrack 4
    CIFAS - The Enemy Within
    BDO Fraudtrack 4
    Powerchex Annual Survey 2008
    A Degree of Creativity on CVs
    Powerchex Annual Pre-employment Survey
    dofonline
    OnRec

Further reading

    McConnell, Charles R. (2004-09-28). "Watching Out for Resume Fraud". National Federation of Independent Business. Retrieved 2007-07-26.

 

Article Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_fraud