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? 

[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.