Employment Verification

[Lyndsey Keller]

Getting ready to show my first rental house tomorrow, and have a quick question about employment verification. Should have I asked potential tenants to bring a document with them to the showing? Or do they typically fill out the application at home and mail it in with any documents?

[Bill Gulley]

A VOE is signed by the applicant and mailed by the one verifying, never let the applicant take it anywhere, they could fill it in and mail it back. Use a stamped return envelope.

Mailing takes time, call the employer and ask if you can fax it to them and them fax it back.

If for some reason they don't want to, let the idea float that that applicant may not be a favorite employee. Then tell them it's a requirement (it is for financing, I doubt it for rentals, but bluff your way through :)

If you just want a verification that the applicant works there, you can do that on the phone, get their name, number and position, you can ask: Are they currently employed, their start date, ask if the pay is correct and you can ask if continued employment is expected. Personnel types already know this.

You might ask for comments like do you consider this person to be responsible? They might say something, if they are good corporate types they can't and/or won't, don't think too much of that. But I have small employers open up and tell me all about them. If they over sell them, it could be a family member, so don't swallow everything you hear, play it by ear. :)

[Lyndsey Keller]

Okay, thank you for the quick response. I was planning to just call to verify everything, but then I was reading about Proof of Income letters. I just became concerned.

[Jon K.]

I wouldn't ask for employment verification in writing until the tenant actually APPLIES to live at your property. Then, get proof and call their company, google it and make sure the phone number they give is the same as the company's real number. Anyone can create some fake company letterhead.

[Account Closed]

If it is a large company, they could have many numbers so the one they give could be change and have a new number and just Yahoo the company. Some companies will only give if they are employed there, start date, position, and I think there are laws on what a company can give on an employee.

Joe Gore