Tenant screening - can I use a report from a different property that's not mine?

Question

Quirky question. Held an open house this past weekend. Received several good applications. Everything out for screening which will take a few days because I am newly-registered landlord. A couple that looks great on paper has been accepted elsewhere but likes our property better. Can I ask to see their acceptance letter for the other property (not mine) and use that to kick them to the head of the line? Don't want to lose potentially great tenants due to screening delays. It's relying on other screening that I didn't pay for...but I don't want to do anything unethical/illegal either.

Thank you.

Robert Leonard · Answer

@Carl  Gipson my first question that comes to mind is, why is someone with an acceptance letter in hand looking at your place?  Sounds flaky/smells fishy, whichever sense it triggers, it's suspicious behavior to me.

I'm very systems oriented in my business and when I look back at when "problems" happened, a lot of them are traceable back to my decision to deviate from my own procedures.

Steve Babiak · Answer

It's easy to draw up a fake acceptance letter, just like scammers can fake many other things.

Carl Gipson · Answer

@Steve B. Thanks Steve. I certainly plan on stratifying the applicants based on what the third-party screening company produces. In the event of a "tie" (income, history all on par with each other) I planned on offering it to the first party that applied of the 'best' group. Does that make sense? If no tie, than best qualified applicants is offered the property.

@Steve Babiak True and good point. This couple applied in person during my open house on Saturday, than today, unbeknownst to them, their relocation person contacted me to set up a viewing. Turns out their relocation helper did not know they had already applied. So when we figured that out she mentioned her clients had been offered another place but liked my property better. So I'm certainly leery of it, but the relocation person works for a legitimate business (I verified it online) so I'm cautiously optimistic that it's not a scam.

Brie Schmidt · Answer

@Carl  Gipson - I would not accept their approval letter.  I do open house showings and tell tenants that applications are due on X day by X time.  All applications will be reviewed and then my top applicant does a credit check with mysmartmove.com which takes about 5 minutes to get back

Steve B. · Answer

Carl,

Some larger operations use first come, first served because they are bigger fair housing targets and they can't afford to be picky about their tenants, plus this method idiot proofs the selection process when they delegate it.  Remember there is a very short list of protected classes to be aware off when selecting tenants.  Resorting to first come first serve as the primary criteria for choosing tenants makes your landlording life about ten times harder by putting you in a box choosing marginally acceptable tenants.  I would seriously reconsider your options.

Carl Gipson · Answer

@Christopher Leon Thanks for the feedback. I do plan on screening based on first-come, first-served order. I hadn't thought about time-stamping the applications so thanks for that. Just want to get good tenants but you're right in that a discriminatory complaint would be the worst possible way to start things out.

Christopher Leon · Answer

@Carl  Gipson You had said "everything our for screening" Do you mean that you received multiple apps and have sent them out for background/credit and all that? As an agent, I frown upon that because it opens you up more for fair housing violations or discrimination. You should always time stamp an app and consider them by first come first serve, so that you alleviate the potential of the aforementioned. <just my opinion, you can run your business anyway you want>

I understand you have prospective tenants you want to jump to the front of the line, and its normal to feel that way, but do be careful through this process cause if anyone knew you were considering certain individuals before others, they could accuse you of discrimination. Not saying you are or you would, but in Illinois, all people need to do is "feel" like they have been discriminated against, and that's it.

Lastly, I personally would not accept anyone else's acceptance letter due to the fact, you have no idea how they run their business. Maybe they're niche is renting to people with pets and you don't accept pets, or whatever other kind of variation you can come up with. My suggestion: determine your criteria on what you deem acceptable or ideal for your property and stick to it. You'll mitigate any problems in the future.

Good luck to you.

Tenant screening - can I use a report from a different property that's not mine?

Most Popular Reply