Rating Tenants.

I recently came across a service called ratetenant.com  It is only applicable in the US and Canada, but I thought it was an interesting concept.

What it allows you to do is to search information about potential tenants (both commercial and residential). It allows property management companies and landlords to type in the person's name and find out if they have a good, bad or ugly rental history.  Following on from this, you would update this tenant's history with your own feedback during and after their tenancy. The service is not designed to replace credit history or background searches, but to capitalise on technology to verify information.

There are appears to be some other side benefits:

• A deterrent to any property damage. Notifying tenants when they sign a lease that they will be rated (during and after their tenancy) means they will be more inclined to look after the property. This seems to be the biggest advantage of them all.
• Reduces evictions. The website claims that companies who use the service are reporting a 60-90% reduction in evictions.
• Save time on landlord verifications. You don't have to wait for information and you don't have to make dozens of phone calls/emails (and wait for replies) to check up on a potential tenant.

Need to be aware of:

• There is a monthly fee of $15 per month (after a 3 month trial), which could  be included in the fee to the client (property owner).
• It's still new so that the chances of finding your tenant are slim. But it still allows you to add information about tenants that you have, enabling the deterrent factor
• But is it legal? There is a disclaimer that they are not responsible for the content, and they do offer some best practices. Since property managers are ultimately in control of the content, this might be an interesting way for clients (owners) to see how professional their property management companies are. The comments posted here, would have to be well thought out and very objective, otherwise it could leave it open to people becoming disgruntled (i.e. lawsuits) very quickly. There is a note from an Attorney posted on the site, but I would follow it up with your own legal team.

So it pretty much uses the threat of 'public shaming' to your advantage. If it became available in Australia, would you like me - as your Property Manager - to use it for your rental property? Do you think it's a bit 'big brother' or do you like this idea?