What would you do with this applicant?

Question

I am an experienced landlord, not a newbie, but I came across a situation that I thought I'd put out there for feedback.  I want to know what you'd do and why in this situation.  I don't really need basic lessons in screening tenants, just looking for perhaps a perspective I haven't thought of.

I have multiple applicants for 2 apartments, 8 applicants altogether, and 5 of them have credit scores 700-749, 1 of them has credit score 750-799.

One of the applicants with a credit score of 700-749 was the first applicant.
She has excellent job references and qualifies income-wise for the apartment but barely.
She will be going from $200/mo with a roommate, to $675 for a small 1BR apt, so it's a big jump.
She has no pets and seems very nice, is respectful and quiet.
She is a naturalized US citizen.
She works two jobs to pay her way and was going to school for accounting.  I have a lot of respect for people who have a rough road and keep going and overcoming obstacles.

Here is the rub:  sometime in the next 6 - 12 months, she is expecting her husband, who is in Haiti, to get his visa and join her.  He will then need to learn the language, then get a job.  Once he gets a job, she can quit one of her jobs and go back to school for accounting.

The apartment is only 500 SF and has never been occupied by more than 1 person.

My policy is I don't rent to people who I don't meet and approve through the normal application process.  Certainly I know that once her husband gets his visa, (who knows when) then he will be arriving and expecting to occupy the apartment.  I have explained to her that I don't rent to people who I haven't met and approved their application, and she agreed to that, but the reality is, once he's here, he's here.  I have no reason to think anything negative about him, I simply haven't met him, and he'll have no job.

Who would rent to her, and why, and who would not, and why?

Thanks for your perspectives.

PS:  The unit is in NH and eviction is about 45 days.

Lynn McGeein · Answer

Ann, It seems to me you've already said it ... You don't rent to people you haven't met and haven't approved through your normal application process.  Why change a system that clearly works for you?  I think maybe you want to help her, which is why you're conflicted, but if she is already telling you that by renting to her, you'll be violating your own system that works for you, to me that is a sign to move on to someone who fits more into your guidelines.

Steve Babiak · Answer

Ann Bellamy - if that was the only application I would have taken her probably.  But you have others, and you have your policy in place that she was unable to meet, whereas other met your policy.  It's been a while since I've seen a 700+ score on a rental applicant; I have a vacancy right now where I am accepting applications, and one that I've talked to (but no written app yet) says they are 800+; seeing is believing, of course :).  Low 600 scores are what I tend (and expect) to see, along with many lower (I've seen as low as 453 last year, and one unscored applicant with prior foreclosure and eviction in his background).

But do refer her to somebody else, nothing wrong with that.

Ned Carey · Answer

Have thought about it from a fair housing standpoint? Fair Housing isn't always fair to landlords.

Based on race, county of origin, or familial status, you could be at risk if you deny her, because she was first and you said you approved her. However if you accept her, you are back in the same situation if you don't accept her husband.

Ann Bellamy · Answer

In this case, it was a mass showing, like an open house, and almost all applied.  Good time of year.  So I ran the reports for all that applied.  $29.95 for my screening service.

I don't take deposits at all until I have approved someone.  So I then took 2 deposits.

Jeff S. · Answer

Ann, just wondering then how many apps do you take before running reports and do you charge all of them? Recently took apps from 3, deposits from 2. Felt pretty sure I was going to fail 1 so didn't take fee, ate report expense.

Ann Bellamy · Answer

Steve Nicewarner, good idea, except in NH it doesn't work that way.  There was a recent court case that ruled that the end of a lease is not sufficient grounds to evict a tenant.  So much for the Live Free of Die state.  It caused a huge uproar in the landlord community.

Anyway, I had so many other applicants that I took the top two for the two vacancies I had, and told the applicant in this thread that I would be happy to consider her application once I could meet her husband.

I was thinking with my heart instead of my head, which sometimes works and some times doesn't.  I decided not to break my own rule, which is never to rent to people I don't meet and screen.

Steve Nicewarner · Answer

You seem to want to approve this applicant. Perhaps the answer is to offer her a six or nine month lease. That way the spouse is only in the place for a short time, and you have the opportunity to interview him before agreeing to the new lease.

Nathan Emmert · Answer

I'm with Ryan...  ignoring all the other B.S. about how many other great candidates you have (I hate you btw :) ), if the stranger is the danger... why not go on a month to month lease until he arrives and then you can re-evaluate and have them move on, or enter into a longer term agreement...

Eric Blackford · Answer

Reject her for two reasons, 1) the jump in rent as opposed to her income and 2) the uncertainty of her husband coming in during the lease term. If he comes in and hates the apartment, she will move regardless of your agreement with her. Take one of your other overly qualified applicants. ;)

Ann Bellamy · Answer

Bill Graham, I had 6 actually, because one of them was 750-799.  Awesome, isn't it?  Nice problem to have.

I created my ad in Postlets, and run it on Craigslist, and put a sign in the yard.  That's it.

I have inexpensive clean safe apartments, not fancy, small,  frequently not updated, but maintained and in a good neighborhood.  So I get a lot of singles starting out and divorced people.  I could probably get more rent at this time of year, but I'd rather have good applicants to choose from.  I also allow dogs and charge a little more rent.

I'm an animal lover, and when I take someone with a dog, I try to make sure I have very responsible tenants.  Not the kind who tie the dog out in the backyard, or lock them in a room to do damage to the property.  That's unacceptable to me both from a landlord perspective and an animal lover's perspective.

What would you do with this applicant?

Most Popular Reply