New ordinance requires Stewartville landlords to run background checks

Should background checks be required for all prospective tenants? Post-Bulletin reports that Stewartville, MN city council has passed an “ordinance requiring all landlords to conduct background checks on prospective renters”  The impetus for the ordinance appears to be that a neighboring city Rochester, recently passed the same ordinance.  Apparently, the citizens of Stewartville believe that the background checks in Rochester are directly responsible for a rise in crime in Stewartville.

“Their ordinance worked,” Dick Uptagrafft said. “It chased people out of Rochester and into smaller communities like ours.”

Interesting to see that there is a perceived value in the background check.  The article doesn’t mention the type of background check, and it is worth noting that all background checks are not equal.  For tenant screening, it is important to verify your candidate’s identity before conducting a criminal check.  Conducting a tenant credit report will provide you with the prospective tenants full name and address history.   It is important to run a full background check on your candidate’s name and any aliases covered. 

The article also mentions:

If a background check comes back negative, it helps the landlord avoid going through the process of evicting a bad tenant in the future, Stewartville city administrator Bill Schimmel Jr. said.

Hopefully the residences of Stewartville will see a drop in crime.