First time landlord doing the first tenant turnover

[Cindy Schneider]

I am currently house hacking a duplex and when I purchased it last November the renters on the other side stayed and now they are leaving the end of July. I plan to do a minor remodel on that side and have the unit available for Sept. 1. I just posted my ad on Facebook Marketplace and am getting a continual influx of responses. I was planning to do short phone calls with people to go over the requirements and then from there set up one afternoon to do showings with a number of people, then they would fill out application. Can I tell them they don't qualify during the phone call due to not making enough income or do I have to wait until they apply and I call the employer? I plan to do a CCAP search, call employer and past 2 landlords. So far one person has a emotional support dog and I don't allow pets and I know they are excempt and need a doctors note, but am I exempt from that rule since I'm living in the home and don't have any other rentals? I'm wondering what the best way to weed through people is without wasting time or being unfair to anyone. 

Thanks,

[Luke Marsh]

Hi @Cindy Schneider Hope it is going well up there in Oshkosh! (I grew up there, its a great city). 

Tenant screening is huge in terms of tenant turnover, on time rent payment, and filtering out bad potential tenants. Ideally having some sort of tenant score, or at the very least having specific parameters that applicants need to meet will help flush out bad tenants. I think you are on the right track with the income verification, and speaking to previous landlords. I would recommend having applicants pay for a full tenant screening report, with credit checks, criminal history, eviction history, etc. before reaching out to employers and previous landlords, this will save you time. There are a number of tenant screening services out there that do a good job (We use Innago). 

I don't believe living in the house with the potential renter would exempt you from the Fair Housing regulations that prevent discrimination towards people with service animals. Also, I would not suggest denying the applicant over the phone, but instead send them an LPA denial letter.