I'm taking calls from people about an available apartment I have in NH. I screen them on the phone before I set an appointment even for an open house. I require that they actually be able to afford the apartment and be able to show that the rent is no more than 40% of their documented gross income. After some preliminary discussion about the amenities in the unit, he wants to set up an appointment, and part of our conversation continued as follows:

Me: I have income requirements for my units, do you mind telling me what you do for work?
He: I'm a flooring installer
Me: Great, do you work for someone else or are you self employed?
He: Self employed but I do my work for <Company withheld>
Me: Ok, fine, can you tell me how much you make?
He: $2300 per month
Me: Awesome, can you document that?
He: No, I'm on disability
Me: Ok, so you can't document all your installation income, but how much can you document?
He: $2500 per month
Me: Ok, that's more than the $2300 that you can't document.
He: No it's $1250 per month.
Me: Ok, so you get $1250 in disability income that you can document, but can't document any of your installation income, is that right? (I'm making that leap of understanding)
He: That's right, I work for my brother under the table because I'm on disability but I don't have to do any actual work. (I wonder if <company withheld> would like to know that?)
Me: I'm sorry, I don't think I can help you, because your documented income is less than the minimum required for this unit.
He: It's people like you that make me do what I do.
Me: I'm sorry, we require that your documented income be enough that no more than 40% of it is needed to pay the rent. Income you are receiving under the table without documentation doesn't qualify for that.
He: Yeah, I'm learning about New Hampshire <click>

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It's my fault that my potential applicant is scamming the disability system. Who knew?

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