All Forum Posts by: Angie W.

My rental is in an older, lower middle class neighborhood with houses under 1000 sq ft. Being such, most of my applicants are early to mid 20's with maybe a high school education.

Being so young, many times the have no rental history (first time on their own) or are on their first rental. In addition employment history is also short, no credit etc.

Ideally, I would like to rent to someone with solid work and rental histories but with my applicant pool most times this won't be possible.

I've owned the property for 3 years and my first tenant was a first time renter with a good job. We gave him a chance based on his job and our interview with him. He turned out to be a great tenant, but in the end got mixed up with the wrong girl. He always paid the rent in advance, and verified anything with us that he wasn't sure about. 1 1/2 years into his tenancy he moved in a girlfriend from hell who was a professional tenant without our knowledge. It's a long story, but even though it did not end well, I would still give him a good reference because he never gave me any problems, he was just naive and got himself into an impossible situation before he knew what was coming.

Now I have a couple in their mid 20's with a young child. It appears that the husband works for his father in law, and that they all currently live with her parents. They are 25 and 27 and have only rented one place for a total of 8 months.

When dealing with younger applicants what do you go on? Beyond the obvious -no record, evictions etc - How do you decide whether they are a good risk or not? Anything special you look/watch out for?

It seems every one has a "story"...

This may sound a little silly, but I also check to see if I can find them on Facebook. You'd be surprised how many people have their profile public.

Sometimes it can be really revealing as to their character. Other times you'd be surprised what they actually say about their personal living/financial situation. Many people put their whole life out there for the world to read.

I am seriously looking into using erentpayments this go around.

@Aly W. one of my questions were how the NSF's are handled. Am I understanding correctly that you do not get charged as the payee if this happens? Vs. if I take a check to the bank deposit it and it bounces I get charged. Also, how/when do you get notified?

I'm ok with the 3 business day wait and the $3 charge if it saves me from having to go to the PO (taking a chance that the check is there) and the bank. My time is worth the $3.

All great advice.

I always look up the phone #'s of the employers to verify they are the same, and call the main # not the one listed on the application.

For residential history; if it is an apartment complex I will look up the # and call the office. If it is an individual I look up the property at the auditors office and verify name and number.

It's too easy for people to put down their friends or relatives #'s and have them pose as a supervisor/landlord.

@Aly W. I like the way you word your opening question to the "landlord". I'm going to write that down. Sometimes I find myself tongue tied when I make calls.

Thanks for the advice.

This is a young couple with very little to no rental history. The one place they have rented (an apartment/townhome) they claim they broke the lease and moved due to a mold problem that they couldn't get management to rectify. In addition they also admitted that they are still paying off the lease by automatic draft @ $25 a week.

Still investigating and trying to piece things together on their employment and residential histories.

I have what looks to be very good potential renters. They have no evictions or judgments of any kind and on the application state that their income is more than enough to handle the rent and all other expenses.

Now I am to the point in the verification process where I need to call to verify employment and rental history. I plan on asking for current pay stubs in addition to calling to verify.

Does anyone have a standard set of questions they ask to verify the information provided on the application or orally?

I was thinking of something like this:

Is this person employed here?

How long have they been employed by your company?

Can you verify the income they have listed?

Landlords:

Were they tenants?

When did they occupy the property?

Did they pay on time?

Was there any problems?

Any advice from more seasoned landlords would be greatly appreciated.

I say it depends on the area and demographic you are renting in. In the area my rental is in more than half or the renter population smokes. Yet there are still plenty of people who do not allow smoking.

My last tenant did not smoke, however an unapproved girl who moved in did. She obviously had never seen or used an ashtray. The bathroom vanity had a dozen burn marks in it, there were cigarette burns in the carpet and the kitchen tile, and the whole house was covered in a layer of nicotine, with streams of it running down the bathroom walls. There were about 200 cigarette butts all over the front porch. The entire place had to be re-painted, and I had to wash every wall and ceiling to even get the paint to stick.

That being said, I am a smoker, I haven't smoked indoors in 10 years. Back when I did I was as clean as I could be about it, but cigarette smoke penetrates everything, especially in enclosed spaces, no matter how "clean" you are.

Going outside to smoke seems to be more acceptable now. I have now written into my lease that you make smoke outdoors only. Maybe it will deter some, but I think it would be hard to enforce as mentioned above.

If she is staying there you really NEED to get her to fill out the proper paperwork and be added to the lease.

I just went through this situation. My GOOD tenant (of 1 1/2 years) got involved with a girl who slowly moved herself in. Within 8 months or so it turned ugly, she wouldn't leave even after he repeatedly ask her to move out. Long story short...she got beat up at a bar, came home and called the police saying my tenant did it, had him arrested, he legally was not allowed on the property, and she stayed there rent free, and trashed my house until I could get her out by evicting HIM. I also had to go after him for all of the damages she caused.

I saw the signs, and he even asked me once, but since he was such a good tenant I never thought about pursuing it, as I thought he could "handle" it. People stay with each other all the time. Had I followed my own rules and checked her out, she would have NEVER been allowed to live there. She was a "professional tenant"

I agree with Michelle. I just dealt with a similar situation...a single guy rented my property - 1 1/2 years later he moved in a girlfriend (without notifying me and having her approved)...the situation turned ugly resulting in him having a court order against him not to return to the property. The girlfriend (whom I did not know) along with several other adults and children were living in my house. I had to evict the original tenant (even though he was no longer allowed on the property) and "unknown occupants". Needless to say the girlfriend and her friends trashed my house and I had no legal avenues to pursue against her because she was not a legal tenant and we had no "agreement".

Always have anyone over 18 who will occupy the property fill out an application and make sure they all meet your qualifications individually.

Thanks for the replies. Makes me feel a little more at ease.

Steve I have actually pondered the idea of taking applications for a period of time and then selecting the best candidate. Do you actually come up with a time frame ahead of time? I was thinking of saying something like "We are currently taking applications through (insert date here)." and then maybe giving a date of when we will be notifying all applicants as to our decision.

Derek, thanks for sharing how you actually tell them. It gives me a good idea how to respond to those I don't wish to rent to without getting into specifics.