rlewis Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 I'm looking for feedback to help improve a new service that I've created. [Disclaimer: this will be a commercial service from which I stand to benefit.] I am an assessment scientist with a Ph.D. in Psychology specializing in the development of screening tools. My day job involves developing intelligence tests, personality tests, and integrity tests used by employers to screen employees. As a landlord, I was annoyed that there were no similar psychology-based tools for landlords, especially given their utility and popularity in employment. So I created one: the world's first personality test for screening tenants. The basic idea is that candidates take a short online survey. Landlords then receive results by email, or can view results online. Reports score candidates on a full range of behaviors, including: payment-related behaviors damage-related behaviors neighborly behaviors maintaining good relations with the landlord housekeeping avoiding illicit activities vacating behaviors After years of development and validation, I'm just starting to release a beta version. Is there anyone here who might be willing to try the tool and provide feedback useful for improvement? Note that because the tool is in beta, some room for improvement is expected. A free account lets you screen up to 5 people per year. That should be sufficient for anyone here who is willing to try the service and, I hope, enough to provide useful feedback. Here's the URL: www.HonestRenter.com Any thoughts you have are much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 1. What affect would it have if an applicant was economical with the truth ? ie ....the applicant WANTS the property so will give the answers they think the landlord wants and not necessarily the truth. 2. What incentive is there for the applicant to give honest answers ? 3. Whats the predicted accuracy of the product ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave A Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 I'm unsure whether it's a good idea or not, but would like to have a go at completing the survey to see what it's about. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 A lot of tenants I have interviewed over the past years could have done with a personality transplant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Yes, I would agree with that. Some of my applicants would fail before even taking the test... * they wouldn't arrive on time. * they wouldn't be prepared. * they wouldn't understand the questions, however simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlewis Posted June 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 1. What affect would it have if an applicant was economical with the truth ? ie ....the applicant WANTS the property so will give the answers they think the landlord wants and not necessarily the truth. 2. What incentive is there for the applicant to give honest answers ? 3. Whats the predicted accuracy of the product ? Great questions! (1) The survey includes a lie detector scale. When people try to "fake good", it creates a consistent pattern of responses. We identify that pattern and alert landlords when faking has been detected. (2) The employee screening industry has spent decades studying methods to reduce faking on personality assessments. The general finding is that people will only lie if they A: can, B: think they will get away with it, and C: believe it is in their best interest. We apply several proven methods for preventing faking: Letting people know that a lie-detector is included in the assessment, and that honest responders will be given preference Using subtle items (hard to fake when there's no clear "right" answer) Choosing items that show robustness against faking in validation studies Avoiding items that are highly desirable or undesirable (3) In the validation study with 300 tenants, compared to people in the bottom quartile, people in the top quartile were: Payments: 38x less likely to have been contacted about past-due rent Damage: 3x less likely to cause significant damage. 4x faster at reporting damage requiring attention Neighborly: 3x less likely to keep neighbors up at night (e.g., loud TV or music) Interactions with landlord: had 16x fewer angry outbursts, and half as many unreasonable requests Housekeeping: 3x more likely to keep their living space tidy Illicit activities: 3x less likely to have unauthorized additional occupants, and 18x less likely to engage in theft Vacating: 15x more likely to leave a clean unit when vacating You can see the full results from the validation study on www.honestrenter.com/landlords.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlewis Posted June 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Yes, I would agree with that. Some of my applicants would fail before even taking the test... * they wouldn't arrive on time. * they wouldn't be prepared. * they wouldn't understand the questions, however simple. You make a great point: in-person interviews are still extremely informative. I also continue to recommend background checks and reference checks. My hope is that personality tests are able to contribute meaningfully when added to a selection process, such as by getting at behaviors not well covered by existing tools - e.g., by getting at damage-related behaviors, neighborly behaviors, interactions with the landlord, housekeeping, avoiding illicit activities, vacating behaviors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 As an additional 'tool' along with those already used.... personal interviews, references, credit checks, rent guarantee insurances checks etc etc, I can see how this might be really useful for landlords and extremely concerning for tenants. Presumably some tenants will just continuously fail the personality tests every time they apply and struggle to rent anything decent and only able to secure one of the slums at the lower end of the market. I'll take a detailed look at the links you have provided, many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlewis Posted June 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 As an additional 'tool' along with those already used.... personal interviews, references, credit checks, rent guarantee insurances checks etc etc, I can see how this might be really useful for landlords and extremely concerning for tenants. Presumably some tenants will just continuously fail the personality tests every time they apply and struggle to rent anything decent and only able to secure one of the slums at the lower end of the market. I'll take a detailed look at the links you have provided, many thanks. The concern you're raising sounds similar to the "bad credit" dilemma. Just like it is harder for people with bad credit to get accepted somewhere, it could be harder for tenants with "unsuitable" personalities to get accepted by a landlord. The situation might be less dire with personality than with credit for two reasons: Unlike with bad credit, a poor personality fit for one landlord doesn't necessarily mean a poor fit for all. Think eHarmony for landlords. Landlords actually have the ability to customize the importance weights of behaviors so that overall acceptance recommendation scores reflect the landlord's individual values. I have been amazed at how much landlords differ in their priorities! Wouldn't it be great if personality tests became as widely used as credit reports! Seems a long way off yet. You're welcome Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for taking a look! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.