prepaying rent

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i met up with a potential tenant today at the property..he likes it..problem is he does not have a job..however he has a disability check for 3200..he wants to prepay 3 months rent and deposit all at the same time...he was surprised i wasn't bothered by this, as other landlords were...why would landlords be afraid of this?? i simply said we can sign a lease for 3 months..after that, if you find a job, we can extend lease..otherwise you will be trespassing if you don't get out..can you think of reasons i should be weary of this? thanks--bryan

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Any reasons? Yeah.

Let's start with: the guy doesn't have an income. What's he going to pay the rent with when the 3 months are up? Do you honestly think he is going to pack his stuff, clean the house spotless, and leave on the last day of paid-up rent?

You are going to have to evict him, and he is disabled! The judge is going to cut him lots of slack.

Or did you mean he receives a disability check of $3200 each and every month. If he does, then that is income. If he can prove he is getting the check (which is easy to do), then you just screen him like you screen anyone else.

Please note: if he is receiving $3200 documented income every month, no other landlord has turned him down just because the money is a disability check. So there is something fishy going on.

Applicants offer multiple months rent up front when they know they can't withstand a screening. They are hoping to dazzle the landlord with the large chunk of money, so he doesn't check them out.

When I am offered multiple months rent, I know the applicant has miserable credit, no verifiable income, really bad landlord references, a criminal record, is a registered sex offender, or has some other problem with his history that he doesn't want me to look at.

The only time I will accept rent in advance is from a verified student who is living on grant money, and then they can pay me for advance months when the grant money arrives (every 3 months, at our local college)