Would you rent to this tenant?

Question

I have a prospective tenant who would like to move in as soon as possible.

Rent: $1200/month for two bedroom unit.

Prospective Tenant:

She’s a single mother of two children who wants to move into the property as soon as possible due to schooling for her kids.

Income:

She earns $3500/month from her current job and receives an additional $3300/month as military pension. She also gets $1300/month in child support. I have confirmed the above income via her bank statements. ￼￼￼￼￼

Issue:

When I called the number she provided for her previous landlord I received only great feedback. However, when I searched the landlord’s name I could not find that person owning any properties. ￼ The address she provided on her application stating where she used to rent at belongs to someone else. When I asked her to explain this discrepancy she became very defensive and angry. She is saying that she doesn’t know if the landlords changed and that she didn’t keep track of the previous landlord. She is saying that she wants to move in and has the money to pay and I should just let her move in.

What do you guys think?

Anything else I can do for this situation?

I want to help her out and she has money to pay for it but I’m concerned about her unclear past and shady reference.

Cassi Justiz · Answer

I don't do "defensive and angry." This is essentially an interview. The application period is the best side of the tenant you are going to see. Based on this behavior alone I would reject her.

The person you spoke with on the phone should be the owner per county records. If they are not the owner and have never been the owner, then they should be a property manager that you can verify.

Sounds shady. I would reject this tenant and move along.

Jim K. · Answer

@Karen O. raises what I think is the most valid point so far. People who are bringing in $97,200/year don't rent $1200/month apartments. The majority don't rent at all. Median rental household income in the USA is $40,500.

She has two boys and is raking it in, but wants to rent a two-bedroom and not a three-bedroom

She wants to move into the property ASAP in February for her childrens' education. That's weird and makes no sense.

Previous LL is not who they say they are, and she gets defensive about it. That's always a red flag.

I would solve the riddle and run a credit check before I rented to this person. There may be a series of good reasons why these unusual circumstances are happening. But I don't think so.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Too many red flags and I suspect she's a fraud. As others have pointed out, she would have to be a retired officer or on a serious disability rating to get that kind of money from the military.

Did you run a credit/criminal on her? That would verify her identity, her previous addresses, her credit history, and may even help verify her monthly income.

Personally, I would decline her in writing based on the lack of a validated Landlord reference and see if she even bothers coming back.

Bjorn Ahlblad · Answer

She is in a hurry, deceptive and bossy-she is trouble. Next!

Account Closed · Answer

Check the sherriffs office civil website to see if she is getting evicted or was evicted. I would request a copy of her tax returns as well. If she falsifies bank statements, tax records, or anything else you can take that to the police for fraud and no only can she be arrested she can serve time in prison for misrepresentation and fraudulent misrepresentation.

John Teachout · Answer

When you screen someone, make sure to use some type of service that does a comprehensive check. The one I use the most is MyRental. It's connected with Transunion. Anyway, they do credit check, sex offender, criminal background, address check, eviction history, so on and so forth. Then they use some kind of algorithm to crunch this all down into a "tenant score".

Especially if you're new to this game, don't let your gut feeling about someone override the numbers data. Some people know just how to appeal to one's emotions and you need to utilize what little you can "know" about someone vs what they "told" you.

I don't think many would argue with the fact that placing a good tenant is the key to profitability or loss in this business. If you have to evict someone, or they leave you a mess, it can easily cost a year's worth of cash flow. We'll leave a unit empty for months if we haven't found the right person.

Everyone trying to get into your property NEEDS a place to live. That has to be balanced with risk. Have criteria, make it known and stick to it. (the last one is the hardest).

Saurabh Mehta · Answer

@Antoinette Bailey Good point. Thank you!

Saurabh Mehta · Answer

@Russ B. Wow...I’m glad to know that. I had no idea people would do that. Thanks.

Saurabh Mehta · Answer

@John Teachout Thank you for your input. When I met her to show the property she was very nice and I guess I got emotional about her being a single mother and a veteran. I am a newbie and this is my first rental property. I was skeptical when things weren’t matching. But seems like I need to put my emotions aside and move on from her.

Saurabh Mehta · Answer

@Karen O. You make great points. I appreciate your input. No, I haven’t ran a credit report on her yet. I will be moving on from her.

Would you rent to this tenant?

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