Proof of Income - NJ Rental

[Kimberly Carver]

Hi all!

We have a rental property that will soon be up for rent. I have not yet posted the property for rent but we have gotten requests for information from people in the area. My current neighbor rents the house next door to me. Her landlord is currently trying to tell the house and she would have 60 days to vacate if they sell. She really wants to rent our house. She has seen it and has come to our house with checkbook in hand asking if she can put down a deposit to rent it.

Rent is 1600/month.

She worked for the schools and has a pension which she verbally stated is 1600 a month. She was let go from that job and is currently suing the school system because she states that they were not following regulations for special education. She states she was let go and “black balled” in the education community because she refused to sign evaluations for students which she was not present for the eval (but they needed someone with her credentials to sign the documents).

After that she worked at Talbots for a bit but stopped during the pandemic and has been collecting unemployment. Right before she quit Talbots, she opened a store in our town. That was in the works pre pandemic but officially occurred post pandemic, hence her ability to claim unemployment. She verbally states rhetoric 517 a week, plus the current 300 additional.

I asked for the rental application to be filled out, which clearly states to attach pay stubs. Of course she does not have pay stubs.

I can ask for tax returns but with the changes over the past year her 2019 income doesn’t really mean anything.

What else can I ask for to verify income? Pension info, unemployment info... She states she could get social security but is waiting to claim it.

I of course contacted her current landlord and am waiting to hear back from them.

She is a nice lady but I need to protect my families assets and I am fearful she will not be able to pay the rent or will try to pull some sort of scheme.

Thoughts?

[Kevin Purvis]

Originally posted by @Kimberly Carver:

@Kevin Purvis

She said she has a joint savings account with her siblings with a “substantial” amount of money that she could send me a statement of as proof that she could pay her rent with that if needed. I vaguely remember her telling me in the past that her mom left her and the bro/sis over a million.

She also said her ex husband could co sign for her.

 Could potentially be ok, but I would still ask to see that she has any income.  Also increase the security deposit as much as legally possible in your jurisdiction.  She has money but no income then get first month, last month plus bug security. If she has money then it shouldn't be an issue.  However I still wouldn't rent without credit and background plus 90 days of bank statement.