MTR starter seeking advice

[Summer Chen]

Hi All,

I'm freshly starting my MTR and will mainly focus on leads from FF. I have quite some questions that need your help:

For tenant screening, I plan to do the routine background (eviction, criminal) screening and credit check. Should I also call the tenant's previous landlords x 3 to ensure positive rental history?

For income verification, I plan to obtain a copy of the employment contract. Should I call the recruiter/employer to verify employment? Is it necessary to request recent 3-month paystub, bank statement, or last year's w2 form?

When the property is rent to a group of 3 traveling nurses, should each of them individually fill out the complete rental application form? Should I charge each nurse the application fee? One lease will be signed by all three together. I plan to use baselane to do online screening and am not sure how it works yet.

Regarding pet allowance, do people usually request to leave the pets in the front or back yard? or actually allow pets to run inside the house? When a applicant has a service dog or ESA-certified animal, is this considered a red flag? 

For monthly rent payment, do you usually have it due by the first day of each month or pay in advance like one week ahead of time?

Is it feasible to ask the tenant to move the trash can to the curbside for weekly trash pickup when the property is rented as an entire unit?

How many pages is a typical MTR lease? I have been editing it based on a state-specific lease template which contains 15 pages. I'm wondering if it is too long.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

[Bonnie Low]

Hi, Summer. Here are a few brief answers to some of your questions. This is just what I do so it may or may not work for you. I would call at least one prior landlord reference but you may find they don't respond so you may need to call a few. For travel medical professionals I will accept a copy of their fully executed contract in lieu of pay stubs because their prior pay stubs may be totally different than their current contracted rate. 

If you're renting to multiple individuals for the same time period they should all pass the background check and all be signers of the lease. I don't charge an application fee but I do have the tenant pay for their background check. 

For pet deposit, you'll need to discuss with them what their plans are for the pet when they're gone. Ideally, they're either going to pet day care or have a pet walker come in to relieve them during the day. But some people do leave them in a fenced yard or even in the home. It just depends on what you're comfortable allowing. Service animals are not a red flag in my book.

Rent is always due the 1st day of the month and late fees apply by the 3rd. Guests are responsible for moving trash and recyling bins to/from the curb and that is spelled out in the lease. 

hard to say how many pages the typical MTR lease is. Use a state-specific lease and feave everything in there so long as it applies. You can add clauses, like how to handle garbage and where parking is allowed, but don't take out anything relevant in your state specific lease. I use Baselane's partner Rocket Lawyer to create the lease but I've used Keycheck and Avail before and they're all very similar.