Chicken & Egg

[Tony Castronovo]

Thoughts on how to approach this situation....

I am screening a potential tenant...good credit, clean background, verifiable gross income 3+ times rent, no pets, and seems like a neat & orderly kind of person.  Only problem...he would like to move in with his sister and her wife...and they are reluctant to fill out an application until they know whether he is approved (the excuse is they don't want to pay additional app fees if they don't have to).  While they haven't explained details, they seemed to indicate that their credit & background are not as squeaky clean.  I was also told that if they didn't qualify then he might want to rent my place on his own.  I find it hard to believe he would not try to move them in without my knowing.  Of course I reserve the right to inspect the property and this would be a violation of the lease agreement.  But I really don't want it to come to that.

So the question is...do I make them all apply and it's a "package deal"....complete picture before approving "them".  Or do I consider him the primary, who has the income on his own to pay the rent, and approve him to move in...separating the other two applicants on their own merit?

[Kim Younkin]

@Tony Castronovo, even if you consider him the primary, you'd still want to charge an app fee for the other two to at least run a criminal background check on them. We deny applicants/residents with felonies or misdemeanors of a violent or drug related nature. Basically, they should have to pay an app fee if they want to live there so you can run that check, even if they're not directly responsible for the rent. We charge $35 for a single app and $20 for each add'l adult. If you approve them after that, still list their names on the lease agreement because they do need to comply with all the other tenant provisions of the lease--just specify somewhere that the joint & several responsibility of the tenants extends to all of the lease except the payment. It might be just a credit thing, and they might be happy to do this. Good luck!