4 ms·
As a non-American living in Western Europe the idea of a landlord doing a "background check" on prospective tenants is terrifying. Never heard of such a thing i
by 4ad 10y ago
As a non-American living in Western Europe the idea of a landlord doing a "background check" on prospective tenants is terrifying. Never heard of such a thing in Europe. What the hell does "background check" even entail.
- pjc50 10y agoUnfortunately in the UK landlords are obliged to perform immigration checks: https://www.gov.uk/check-tenant-right-to-rent-documents/who-to-check https://www.gov.uk/check-tenant-right-to-rent-documents/who-... Most European countries have mandatory ID / residence registration so this is handled directly by the state rather than making landlords do it. (Whether the UK counts as "Europe" is a subject of extreme controversy)
- Symbiote 10y agoThat rule in the UK is very new, and also controversial.
- wccrawford 10y agoThey check for whatever they're legally allowed to check for. I found a service that does it when I just searched. https://www.tenantbackgroundsearch.com https://www.tenantbackgroundsearch.com
- Broken_Hippo 10y agoMost will minimally do a credit check. Some will check your past landlords - and won't rent to first-time renters. Some do criminal background checks, and a small portion will check personal references.
- taejo 10y agoGerman landlords in large cities generally require a credit report (though not things like criminal record, which can be in a US background check). For large institutional landlords, you may sign a document permitting them to perform this check; the more usual case is that you request a report from the credit-report company yourself and send them a copy.
- magic_beans 10y agoWhat, you've never lived in France? It's RIDICULOUSLY common in Paris (though probably not legal? who knows).
- metaphorm 10y ago"background check" in America almost always means credit report and little besides that.