International Tenant Screening

[Amy Oltendorf]

I bought my duplex six years ago, and I had built in tenants that worked out great for that time. They just recently moved out and I am searching for some good tenants.

I have taken many phone calls, to which almost all of them have had some sort of disqualifier right away, as I am making sure to ask about income, employment, evictions ect., even before they bother looking at the place. Just yesterday, I showed the apartment to my first prospective tenant. I was unable to do a quick search in CCAP, because they had just moved here from another country a handful of months ago. A relative was able to tell me the monthly income of the prospective tenant, as there is a language issue and the potential tenants do not speak much English. (The place was a mess, as I am in the middle of a handful of projects, but wanted to start showing, and warning the prospective tenant in advance what I plan on doing) All in all, the two relatives, the wife, (prospective tenant) and the 23 year old son (prospective tenant) looked at the place and said they liked it. I gave them the applications, to which they left with and came back an hour in a half later to drop them off (with the most recent paycheck stubs They informed me that they were not going to be looking for another place unless they heard that they did not get the apartment.

How to I go about screening someone from Thailand? I was just informedc by the relative that his wife would not let him co-sign, (even after he had told me he could). It seems as if he is established in the states, and has owned his own condo for 8 years.

They have no references, other than the relatives from here.

Where do I get the information I need to screen for, as they can be potentially good tenants, or terrible ones.

I am at a loss on what to do. I do not want to deal with horrible tenants, (who does I guess :), as I hear it is a nightmare!

Any advice from experienced landlords would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance,

Amy - the Tenant Screener Newbie

[Thomas S.]

Stop wasting your time. These applicants are a straight up crap shoot. If the relatives are not willing to co-sign what does that tell you. Pass.

The biggest mistake landlords make consistently is trying to make a applicant, that clearly does not pass screening standards, pass by searching for reasons to justify accepting them. If on the surface there are red flags never waste your time screening. All that will accomplish is increasing your risks.

Unless you are a social worker determined to give the world a second chance you need to tighten your screening standards.