By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

This is how the owners of properties for rent characterize their meetings with prospective tenants. They don’t know anything about the background of those who ask them to trust them with their properties and as a result many go overboard in their effort to make sure they have found the right person for their property. That is why many times they even ask for a statement from the tax office. The prospective tenant is not obliged to demonstrate it and somewhere in there… the work breaks down. And there are many jobs that are lost like this despite the fact that the problem of finding housing has worsened.

This problem is alleviated by the government which has included in the works of the Recovery Fund a kind of Teiresia of tenants which is of course in a very early stage. However, according to the information of skai.gr, it will be a register in which property owners will be able to rate tenants. They will be able to mention e.g. that the former landlord left them unpaid bills (water – electricity – utilities) or unpaid rent. They may be able to report tenants who caused damage. Of course, they will be able to put and excellent if the tenant was type and underline.

Kind of like that an overall rating for the tenant will result, his profile will be sketched and through the register landlords will be able to assess much better the person they will be in front of and who will be asking them for their property.

This register is a first response to the concerns of property owners that 1/10 tenants show persistent delinquent behavior by “breeding” fez. In fact, their federation itself has advanced a much bolder proposal to the government.

Just as banks have the right – before signing a loan contract – to fully “screen” their prospective client, so too, landlords, they argue, should, in order to sign a potentially long-term contract such as the rental of a property, have disposition of the basic elements in their opinion such as:

  • Any debts to the tax authorities
  • Any debts on insurance details
  • If they are in Teiresias
  • Tax details through AADE

“Only in this way will we be able to avoid renting a property of €600/month to someone with earnings of €800 who is certain to leave us with unpaid rent”claim the owners speaking to skai.gr. They also appreciate that such a measure would also unblock many transactions as it would remove a key fear on the part of landlords many of whom prefer to leave their properties unoccupied rather than face debt.

As much as I searched, I could not find such a public tool in Europe. But in America and in Australia such services live and reign!

In the US, for just $21 a landlord can hire a specific tenant screening company and have access to:

  • In evidence of his identity
  • In his credit rating
  • In information about previous evictions or bankruptcy petitions
  • In any previous reviews of him on other platforms

For an additional $6, a criminal record check and any sexual offenses are carried out, while the tax clearance certificate costs $10.

In Australia, the current regime is more similar to what the Greek government wants to do. Tenant registers are known there as ‘black’ lists and contain problems that landlords have had with previous tenants.

To be on the list one must:

  • Whether he has left unpaid rents
  • Whether there is an eviction order

In early August the Australian government even changed the law to make the cost of a background check as a renter – $19 to $30 – to be borne by the prospective renter!!! Now the owner of the rental property will undertake it.

As repeatedly stated on the sites of the companies that take over the control DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE RENT TO?