Thanks. I have heard of them. I will check them out. I already review (local) public court records to check for evictions, although this is not as thorough as NTN doing a nationwide search. I do feel like my market dictates that I take tenants with undesireable history and for the most part I have been successfull doing that. Other people would not do this, but they are in better areas. I have applied a 4 yr eviction and drug/violent crime period requirement. But I think I need to write this down and be more firm. I also will not sign a lease until utilities are transferred over. This stopped one applicant this week. "It was his girlfriends fault that he was living with." My method is not perfect, but for the large part it has worked and I have had great occupancy doing that. However, I am concerned I need to improve.
I rejected a woman applicant yesterday. She called me on the phone and introduced herself. She wanted me to know that she did not have kids or a boyfriend. I like that scenario a lot, but I was very alarmed that she thought to tell me that. I found that she had criminal history and evictions, but they were approx 10 years ago. What I didn't like is that she had escrowed the rent on her landlord in 2012. I met her at the apt and she explained that the landlord had refused to resolve a leaking roof. I thought that was understandable. When I met her, she walked around my apt with a chip on her shoulder. She told me everything that was wrong (freshly remodeled, new everything except tub). She had the personality where she wanted to be in control. She told me that I wouldn't have any problems as long as my maintenance is up to par. She told me that the dinette wood floor needed to be cleaned and that the tub needed work. She then asked for the application which I thought was strange! I said I didn't had one and that I had already checked her background on public record - the truth. She really reacted to that and wanted to know how I approve people. This was another flag. I also said that I didn't think things would work out. I told her the wood floor was just stripped and refinished and that it was what it was. My opinion was that she would cause me a lot of trouble and that she expects a $700 unit for $375. There is a small water stain on the wood floor, but it is in fine condition. I told her that I didn't see a reason to go forward if she was already unhappy with the unit. I believe that it is a very nice unit for the market. She was shocked. I know that I made the right decision, but that whole interaction scared me. Everything about it. I need to get my act together and have written criteria and post it on the refrigerator and stick to it. I will check out NTN. Thx.
