House for rent? Police clarify whether tenant police clearance is mandatory

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Planning to rent out your house? If you've been wondering whether a prospective tenant needs to produce a police clearance certificate before getting the keys, here's some clarity: it is not mandatory, police have said.
Social media posts claiming that tenants need a police clearance certificate based on the address on their Aadhaar card are baseless, according to the police.
That doesn't mean landlords can't ask for one, though. Police have advised that keeping a police clearance certificate can be useful as a precaution from a security point of view.

The practice has become more common as house owners have grown increasingly cautious about who they rent their properties to. Police said rented houses are sometimes being used for activities such as drug sales and financial fraud, prompting landlords to seek more information about prospective tenants.

A police clearance certificate can help a house owner check whether a prospective tenant has previously been involved in offences or cases. But the document is a precaution rather than a mandatory requirement for renting out a house, according to the police clarification.

So, if you're about to put your house up for rent, you don't have to worry about a police clearance certificate being a compulsory part of the process. Still, doing some basic checks on a prospective tenant and keeping the relevant rental records can go a long way towards making the arrangement safer and hassle-free.