Should tennant's wife be on the lease if she's not living there?

[Jamie K.]

Hey BP! Ive had my first rental property up for rent for a week and I'm going through my second application screening. The tennant's background and credit check passes and all minimum requirements are met. He was relocated for work from Tennessee to Illinois where my rental unit is. He filled out the application as being the only one living there even though he's married and has a child. When questioned about his wife not filling out the application he said that she would be staying in Tennessee with their son and only visiting from time to time until they get their affairs in line and can move here. I told him if she plans on staying for any period more than 2 weeks during the year lease i would need her to sign too. He said that would be fine. Am I being too lenient for taking his word for it? The credit report does show a home mortagage in Tennessee so it checks out. Any help is appreciated!

[Filipe Pereira]

Originally posted by @Jamie K.:

@Cameron Tope thanks for that! Its like being a detective so far lol. I want to think the best of people but can't help but be suspicious. Thabke again!!

Are you able to do a surface background check on his wife? Facebook, other forms of social media, truepeoplesearch, Etc.? Try to develop as good an idea of her as possible, and see if she has any evictions on her record. If all that checks out, I would feel pretty confident in giving the green light here.

There are services that allow you to run a basic background check by using a tenant's phone number, or their name and last known location. Happy to share more if you have any questions.