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Rent in Ghana: Assessing Potential Tenants / Clients

Rent in Ghana: Assessing Potential Tenants / Clients

With the current rent challenges in Ghana, it is salient to take quality decisions when it comes to property rentals as a landlord. No decision will make a downturn on your business outcomes as a landlord other than your choice of tenants. 

While the right tenant can help you turn your income property into a viable venture, you cannot overlook the fact that there are bad and irresponsible tenants. 

Placing the wrong tenant in your property can actually cost you a lot of headaches. Avoiding unpaid rent, legal fees, turn-over costs, and major property repairs are major goals for property owners and often factor heavily into the decision to hire a property manager.

When it comes to finding a tenant who will pay his or her rent on time, take good care of your property, and keep peace with the neighbors, some factors matter more than others. 

With this in mind, here is a prioritized list of things to consider during the screening process:

Meets Basic Requirements for Tenancy
While the law does not permit for scrutinizing of a person to qualify as a tenant on matters such as ethnicity, gender, disability, family status, or religion, you can reject a tenant who is not a good fit for your property if they cannot or does not meet with your policies which however must be in accordance with the laws of the country. 

For instance, if they have more than the allowed number of vehicles, or if they intend to occupy the property with more than the legally allowable number of occupants, an agreeable consensus must be reached to resolve the issue. 

This also implies that all these conditions must be included in the tenancy agreement. 

The form must be signed by both the prospective tenants and the landlord. This would ensure a peaceful transaction between the landlord and the tenant.

Rental History
You might assume that once a tenant agrees to meet your stated requirements for tenancy, the next most important criterion to consider is their monthly income. While that certainly is important, we’d actually rank rental history ahead of this. 

No matter how high their monthly income, or how steady their employment, if a prospective tenant has a rental history that includes evictions, chronic late payments, disruptive behavior, or major property damage, it will be wise to consider the person’s tenancy.

Verifiable Income
It probably goes without saying that adequate monthly income to make the rent payment you require is an important quality in a prospective tenant. 

When it comes to determining how much income is enough, most landlords use the basic rule of thumb that the monthly rent should add up to no more than one third of a prospective tenant’s gross monthly income. 

Employment history is also a key factor. Most landlords like to see that a prospective tenant has been in their current job for six months or more, and has a history of long tenures at their previous places of employment.         If your candidate has just moved into your area from out of town and is in a new job, a history of steady employment becomes even more relevant.

Criminal Record
People can live a double standard life therefore it’s important to have a brief history about your prospective tenant you are taking in to prevent any future uncertainties Not all criminal records are the same, 

If your prospective tenant has a history of run-ins with the law, you may want to investigate the nature of the crimes committed. Non-violent infractions committed several years in the past most likely have little to no relevance to a prospective tenant’s ability to pay rent on time. 

While you’re certainly within your rights to not rent to someone with a criminal record, if all other aspects of the applicant’s profile look good, you may want to give the applicant a chance.

 

Source: Reuben Affum-Ankamah(Real Estate Times Africa)

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