Tenant Screen - Need Advise

[Ade Akingbade]

Hello All, Following up on this. I am a new landlord with people coming to look at the apartment. Some do not meet basic requirements like "No Pets Allowed" but I tell them I will send them an application because I am nervous. How do I manage this? One keeps reaching out and I would appreciate suggestions on declining without issues.

[Wyatt Wolff]

set your criteria, and then hold firm. You are running a business. If someone cannot meet your criteria, then they are not the renter for you. That simple. Unless you are terribly priced, or have a severely limited customer pool, turning people down is going to be part of the business. 

@Lorien Rollins may have better insight. 

[Ade Akingbade]

Thank you, Wyatt. I started letting them know the requirements upfront. Any recommendations on managing the ones where i dropped the ball. 

[Russell Brazil]

Create a written set of criteria. Make sure that criteria is legal in the location. Provide criteria to any applicants. Then it is black and white....they either meet the criteria or they dont.

[Ade Akingbade]

Quote from @Russell Brazil:

Create a written set of criteria. Make sure that criteria is legal in the location. Provide criteria to any applicants. Then it is black and white....they either meet the criteria or they dont.

 Thanks Russell.I have a written criteria now. Mostly standard stuffs:

1. Background and Credit check required
2. Landlord takes care of water up to $50
3. Tenant covers every other utility.
4. No pets and no smoking
5. Income should be at least 2x the rent
6. Past landlord reference
7. No prior Evictions/Breach of lease

The issue now is how best to respond to the ones I promised to send applications too.

[Marshall Smith]

Jotform.com

Create any survey. In this case. A pre-qualification form. Super easy to build, very intuitive, has a free trial, and separates prospects easily. Awesome tool I use every day. I self manage my like 5 property portfolio. 

follow this link and see my pre-qual. 

https://form.jotform.com/221952639521155

[Bjorn Ahlblad]

I am firm on verifiable income is 3x rent! Minimum Credit 720

[Donna Johnson]

Quote from @Marshall Smith:

Jotform.com

Create any survey. In this case. A pre-qualification form. Super easy to build, very intuitive, has a free trial, and separates prospects easily. Awesome tool I use every day. I self manage my like 5 property portfolio. 

follow this link and see my pre-qual. 

https://form.jotform.com/221952639521155

Thanks for the tip on building own prequal screening.  

[Nathan Gesner]

It helps to develop the policy and have it in writing so you can reference it, and you can share it quickly and easily. If you have a website, post it on the website. If that's not an option, save it on your computer so you can email it to anyone quickly.

[Tim Baldwin]

As several folks have said here, you need a written resident selection criteria. Ensure that it complies with federal, state, and local housing laws. Unless you're using an online application program, have every applicant submit application in writing. I would encourage you to also have an attorney prepare Application Terms & Conditions. 

As for the persons you said you would send an application, you may have to just be honest and let them know that since they have pets, you are not going to send an application because you have decided not to permit pets. It's better not to leave them hanging. Not allowing pets is a legal selection criteria, unless the person is requesting a service or ESA animal under fair housing, in which case, if they and you qualify, you'd have to permit. 

Best wishes.
 

[Michele Fischer]

We don't turn anyone down until the unit is offered to someone, even if we know they won't make the cut.  We tell them they will get updates via e-mail, we send a mass e-mail out when it is rented "thank you for your interest, we wanted to let you know that the unit is now rented."  Don't go into detail.  If they reach out before, let them know you are still processing an application ahead of them and need a bit more time.  Don't answer/engage if they are repeately bothering you, which is another red flag and negative on our scoring system.  Remember that if you deny (or don't choose them) based on the credit report findings, you are obligated to fill out a form notifying them.  It's not difficult, just another step.

[Henry T.]

Quote from @Marshall Smith:

Jotform.com

Create any survey. In this case. A pre-qualification form. Super easy to build, very intuitive, has a free trial, and separates prospects easily. Awesome tool I use every day. I self manage my like 5 property portfolio. 

follow this link and see my pre-qual. 

https://form.jotform.com/221952639521155

 Whoa dude! That should cut the riff raff! I like it. But they'd lock me up if I used this in Seattle :)

[Jonathan Bui]

Unless it's a service animal and they have papers you can set your own rule against pets, just send the requirements beforehand and ask if they meet eligibility. As long as you're not discriminating against a protected group you will be safe to decline potential candidates who don't meet criteria. Generally you can weed out many individuals based on income, credit, employment history, previous residences, and overall behavior compared to other candidates. 

[Kenneth Cheston]

Hello @Ade Akingbade!

I'm in your market and was in your position in few years ago. Some good thoughts already in this thread. I have some additional ones that I think will help.

1. Host an open house and tell everyone to show up then so you're not constantly coordinating with a bunch of different prospects. Give it like 2 weeks out for open house. Too far out and you won't get interest.

2. Everyone has their platforms that they love and swear by. You can use any of them. I personally like Zillow for screening and listing my units then once I have a signed lease, I move them over to Avail which is much more robust for managing tenants (if you're self-managing which I recommend starting out). Zillow is terrible for property management but good for marketing.

3. You can have criteria, but the reality is... just select the best applicant and follow the law. I tell everyone they can apply no matter what their circumstance and if they follow up with questions about why they were not selected then don't expose yourself by telling them their downfalls.

Hope this helps. Feel free to follow up with me if you have more questions. I like connecting with investors in our areas.

[Drew Sygit]

What are you specifically nervous about regarding prospects that don't meet your criteria?

How have you confirmed your criteria meets all Fair Housing laws?