Canadian Citizen Applying to Rental?

[Amber Forkey]

Recently I had a woman apply to one of our vacant rentals who is a Canadian citizen that's in the process of applying for her visa. Said that the waitlist is pretty long and is looking for a place ASAP. Gave me a story that her friend would be living in the rental until she was able to move here but the tenant doesn't qualify income wise but the woman said that she would finance the whole thing. So my question is what have folks done for non-u.s. citizens that apply and what documentation do you require? 

[Nate Monson]

@Ryan Vienneau have you experienced anything like this?

[Richard F.]

Aloha,

Given THAT story, I would simply pass.

[Kevin Sobilo]

Tell that hoser to suit up in her Canadian tuxedo (all denim outfit) and head back across the border aye!

Sorry, that was my best Canadian accent there. lol

[Ryan Vienneau]

This is a scam.  First, applicants need to have a SS# to submit an application in order to run credit and background, which you won't be able to do.  Second, in NYS you're prohibited from accepting more than one month's rent upfront as a condition of rental approval (see HSTPA of 2019), so the only thing you can rely on is credit for approval, not cash upfront.  Third, this person is definitely trying to trick you into giving them access to the apt, because if they know the laws of NYS, they know that it will take months to evict them, so they just need to find a way to get the keys and then they will have a free place to live in the states for at least 4-6 months.  Application declined. 

[Mary Smith]

@Amber Forkey What we've personally done in the past is ask them for proof of funds, a bank statement from their US bank account would work just fine. However, your tenant doesn't happen to qualify income wise, so I would consider this a major red flag.

[Amber Forkey]

Thanks everyone for the input! Ultimately we didn't end up renting to this person as we had someone else place a deposit and sign a lease before I had a chance to speak to the friend. We probably dodged a bullet on this one.