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Using the "deep web", a new breed of investigator is ready and able to provide property managers with vital information on their tenants, writes Ellen Gylen
For most people, the term "investigation company" conjures up images of detectives in dirty macs hanging around on street corners. Thankfully, the stereotype is very much a thing of the past and a new breed of sophisticated "information gatherers" are proving their worth across a wide range of areas, including property.
A world away from delving into dirty laundry and following up pleas from suspicious spouses, today's property managers are increasingly turning to investigators on behalf of clients to find out more about exactly who they are renting their properties to.
With data protection a potent issue, these investigation companies place themselves towards the due diligence end of the spectrum and do not pry into people's personal affairs. Sitting at the high end of the market are companies like Kroll, which bills itself as the "industry leader in helping clients mitigate and respond to risk".
Nick Ridley, director of EMEA real estate management services at DTZ, thinks the use of investigators as a tool for preventing problems with payments later down the line, as much as dealing with tenants who have missed payments, is justifiable.
He believes that asking clients to sign up to background checks is a reasonable request: "In our lives we are regularly asked to sign up to provide information - when, for example, we take out a mortgage or any financial commitment - so it makes sense that we ask the same. For sole traders it won't come as too much of a surprise, as they have to do this anyway."
Ideally, this will be an on-going scenario throughout the life of a tenant-landlord relationship.
As well as taking a proactive approach to keeping financial problems at bay, property managers are also finding new ways to deal with evicting tenants.
Rather than going to expensive lawyers when...