Question about Tenant Screening

[Frank Segarra]

We have a rental property in southern Westchester.  We are using a real estate agent to find new tenants for our house and paying them 1 months commission to represent us. 

They are recommending tenants who are us citizens but have been over seas for the last five years.   These tenants are coming from another agent within the same agency.  We are being told that they are highly qualified, but can not provide a third party credit check, a third party employment verification, or a third party income verification.   Furthermore, the agents seem to think we are out of line for expecting this type of screening, which we consider minimal. 

I would appreciate any thoughts or comments.

Thanks

[Paul Ronto]

RED FLAG. I would not feel comfortable with this. Sounds a bit like your agent is not looking out for your best interests and only concerned with a pay day. Renting to tenants without a full screening is pretty scary, and relying on the word of someone who is poised to make money off this deal is even more alarming. 

They may end up being great tenants, but if they are unwilling to submit credit, criminal and eviction reports I would keep looking. Also, 12% commission for a PM seems a little high, I think you could get that lower, 8-10% is more realistic, especially with all the online tools that help you do this for free, just my personal thought on that, but seems steep especially since they don't seem to have your best interests as their top priority. 

Feel free to reach out directly if you want to chat more in-depth about this or have any other questions. Happy to help.