Tenant Applicant "Frequent Flyers"

[Wesley W.]

Okay, here's one for you folks to chew on.

Whenever I market a unit coming available, I have a handful of applicants that have literally applied to every single listing I have had for the last several years. I know these parties are real people because I have met them in person at least once at a viewing. My first thought was that they are "secret shoppers" checking for HUD discriminatory behavior or something like that. When I first noticed this, I chalked it up to I was dealing with someone whom was very picky or maybe just "enjoyed the hunt?" But this has gone on for over 3 years in some cases. Every available unit that I post (maybe one every 3 months) elicits a response from these same people. (I do have a bunch of others that do the same thing, but then never respond to my follow up email contact; I think "they" are the secret shoppers.)

I'm very much over them wasting my time (I've set up an email filter that directly archives their inquiries in a special folder without me even seeing it), but I'm just really curious if anyone else has had a similar experience, and if so, what's your best guess about what is going on?  Heck - even if you haven't had this happen to you, I'd love your take.