Do you think this person is fraudulent?

[Curtis Stoddard]

Hello all,

I have a prospective tenant applying for a 6 month lease at my 1b1b studio rental unit.  She is an older woman that says she is going through a divorce and wants to move to my town so she can be close to her adult daughter.  She really really wants this unit and has let me know that constantly for 3 days.  She will not complete a background check with me as i require of all my tenants. Instead she had her daughters husband fill out the report and says he will co-sign with her on the lease. He passed the background check with flying colors. She says that she will pay all 6 months of rent and deposit at the signing of lease.

Should i be concerned with this person???

Or should i get all 6 months rent up front and have her son in law cosign on the lease. I'm a pretty new landlord and have not come across something like this before.  thank you for all your advice in advance.

-Curtis

[Michael Jones]

It is better to have an empty unit than a bad tenant. Move on.

And although the six months rent up front sounds good, what are you gonna do when she is violating the lease on month two and you have to evict.

She didn't follow your guidelines for approval so just move on to the next potential. 

[Gerald Barron]

@Matthew McNeil Right!? I also had to learn those lessons the hard way. Now if the prospective tenant doesn't check all the boxes it's a no... No matter what sob story they have.

[Michael Noto]

She doesn't want the apartment that bad if she is not willing to do the one thing you require in order to be a tenant.

[JD Martin]

Background check on all adult occupants of a property. That's our policy, period. I think it's a good policy and if you use it, disregard it at your own peril. 

[Elenis Camargo]

@Curtis Stoddard I know it's super tempting to take the 6 months of rent and go with it, but it's way too fishy. She's definitely hiding something in her background check. Tell her it's a requirement and if she won't complete the check then don't do it. Yes it's nice to get 6 months of rent now but it could turn into a major headache you don't want later!

[Nancy P.]

My husband  agreed to renew a tenant whom I wanted out,  for six more months, prepaid rent,  while I was out of town.  It was CASH $7800.  She was all kinds of crazy,  there was a BENTLEY in the garage at one point. (Worth about 3 times the value of the condo).  I raised all kinds of hell, the renewal hadn't been signed yet,  gave her the money back and videotaped her taking it as well as signing a receipt,  the police had to get involved to get her to move on her last day,  we gave her all of her deposit back despite about $250 in damages.  Money well spent.  Guess who got arrested for running a car buying fraud service?   Yep.  Crazy *****.  The more unusual they act,  the more leery I am.  No background check is a bye-bye from me.

[Theodore Arzt]

 So I have a question for you. If she pay six months rent upfront what happens when you need to evict?

[Renee Potoczny]

Agree with all that this is a red flag.  Also, something else that I think about when screening.  I figure the prospective tenant "should" be on their best behavior during initial interactions with me (just like a job interview).  If they're already trying to skip the rules/requests in this stage, what's going to happen in a few months after they move in and are comfortable?

[Stephanie P.]

Originally posted by @Curtis Stoddard:

Hello all,

I have a prospective tenant applying for a 6 month lease at my 1b1b studio rental unit.  She is an older woman that says she is going through a divorce and wants to move to my town so she can be close to her adult daughter.  She really really wants this unit and has let me know that constantly for 3 days.  She will not complete a background check with me as i require of all my tenants. Instead she had her daughters husband fill out the report and says he will co-sign with her on the lease. He passed the background check with flying colors. She says that she will pay all 6 months of rent and deposit at the signing of lease.

Should i be concerned with this person???

Or should i get all 6 months rent up front and have her son in law cosign on the lease. I'm a pretty new landlord and have not come across something like this before.  thank you for all your advice in advance.

-Curtis

 If you allow one tenant to skirt the rules, you have to allow all the tenants to skirt the rules or down the road face the possibility of a discrimination lawsuit.  

Housing laws are no joke.  Either follow your set rules for everyone, or be prepared to lose a lot of money.

[Tchaka Owen]

To me, good credit and a background check is so that I don't have to charge you full rent up front. If she doesn't want a background check, but is willing to pay in full, I'd counter with: full rent upfront + 2 months security deposit.

[Marian Smith]

@Christi Hawkins A background check answers, “Who are you?”   Why do we need a disinterested 3rd party account?  Because family and current landlords are often especially eager to offload “problems” onto anyone who will take them.  So they paint a pretty picture.  Did the person last reside with a relative, in jail, in a mental health facility, in a shelter, a recently foreclosed meth house?  How many crimes have you committed?  I have committed zero and prefer to do business with other people who have not committed crimes.  Turns out, that is a pretty low bar.  (Not to say there is not a business model, even a lucrative one, that does not care who the client is but just cares if the rent will be paid.)  Think of the premise behind fico scores.  Past predicts...reasonably well, or it would not be purchased...present and future.  Sorry, but that is just how humans work. If you choose to be the second chance giver, bless you.  But surely you will only do it eyes wide open...with a background screen of some sort, not just believing what you are told.

[Steven A Provanzano]

@Curtis Stoddard I’m also fairly new to landlording but I would pass. I do see the temptation, six months rent up front and a co-signer but Ive read in a few books that no background check and cash up front are huge red flags. It would be nice to understand her true intentions of no background, is it criminal or credit. You could be looking at a trashed unit or cIatlt eviction in six months. Good luck with whatever your decision is.

[Jonathan Soto]

Stick to your rules. she sounds fishy and I would stay away from her. you'll be glad you did. best of luck.

[Amber Gonion]

When people are "too" eager it is always a big red flag.  To be compliant with Fair housing if you ask any applicants to fill out an application and background check you must ask all.

[Stephen A Binion]

I can smell the Grow House from here.  She has been to prison for 420. She has a pocketful of money from the sale of 420. Your electrics will be a mess and the house will mold from the moisture from the plant transpiration.  

[Johnny Pineyro]

Curious what folks out there are doing to get a nation-wide credit and criminal background check these days?

[Deanna O.]

I've been using MySmartMove (Transunion) for awhile -it's pretty good, though occasionally a pain to use. 

My rule is if you tell me about I'll consider the issue pretty leniently if it's minor, a long time ago, and not likely to happen again. A 6 month spat of domestic dispute charges 15 years ago, not that big an issue. LYING about the charges because you "didn't think they would show up" = no deal. Landlording is hard enough without dealing with someone who has proven that they are a liar.

As far as the "divorcee", at this point it's no. With all that much money avail she won't have any problem finding a different landlord to rent from.

[James Galla]

Paying several months of rent up front is a red flag. Normally, that is what college students do, and it is justified because they pay their rent through student loans. Regular people, however, should not be paying their rent up front. You should consider the source of the money and what kind of attention that would bring to your property, and you should consider how they are covering the rest of the rent.

[Joel F.]

@Curtis Stoddard. If you rent to her the background must be nonnegotiable. Someone mentioned their gut told them this person just got out if jail. As a former prosecutor and current attorney who spent and spends a lot of time reading people, I think they are on the money here. Remember, you are handing the keys to your bank account over. There is a reason you posted this question. Follow your instinct. There will be another tenant, pass on this one.

[Amy Beth]

@Curtis Stoddard I would never have entertained her request of running a background check on someone whom will not live there. You already made that mistake which has encouraged her to continue to call you. You can still fix this though since you have not signed a lease with her. Just firmly and kindly let her know that without a background check you can’t allow her to move in. Then stop accepting her phone calls unless she passes your background check which is unlikely since she has been resistant to it. She is lying about something and hoping that you do not screen her to catch her inbher lies. She could end up destroying your place and causing you an expensive eviction if she does not pay in six months and refuses to leave on her own. Do not do this.

[Roger Hefner]

@Curtis Stoddard stick to your rules.

[Lee L.]

No tenants who offer to pay 6 months up front EVER. That's like the first thing you learn in "Tenant Screening 101"

[Tom S.]

@Curtis Stoddard  Any update on this?

[Jim C.]

Why wont the daughter take her in?

[Curtis Stoddard]

I ended up renting the unit  to a more qualified tenant. I told the the prospective tenant that would not do the background check that she did not meet all of my qualifications and that I would be renting the unit to someone else. She said ok and I haven’t heard from her since. It was all really easy peasy. 

Thank you all for the wonderful advice. The BP community is great, and I’m honored to be a part of it.