All Forum Posts by: Brian Christoff

I hadn't thought of this until asked tonight.  Should I require each person that would be signing the lease agreement, to submit for and pay for a background and credit check?  I'm assuming so.  However. That means, I'm essentially charging $70 total for a two person rental instead of the typical $35 or so.  But that's the only way to ensure I know who I'm renting to fully to protect myself.   I'm going thru Zillow SmartMove for the checks.

What is the industry standard for this?  I'm assuming it's a frequent thing.  I want to be fair, but be sure I'm smart and safe as can be.

Thanks for any input.

Brian

Good Point Jeff.  I'm considering just setting up a 1 hr block of time and tell those handful that are qualified and still interested after going by to see the property form the outside on their own.

Thanks for all the suggestions and help on this subject.  I appreciate it.

Deanna -- Yes, there are a handful of homes in the same area and they are either the same rent per month or a little less.  I've even had folks offer to pay an extra security deposit and an additional $50/month if we'd change our minds about allowing a pet(s).

Also, we are going to use Zillow's online application and background/credit checking option for all applicants which are comfortable using online vs. paper.  If paper, then they can give me the cash to move forward with the checks.

Jennifer L -- the first questionnaire is no different than me asking those questions in an email or phone call.  But, I simply am not interested in this stage of the process with so many folks inquiring about the property to do personal interviews.  If those interested parties aren't willing or wanting to fill out a 2 minute questionnaire prior to the actual application, then they aren't all that interested.

Again, many thanks!  On to the next step of having the folks qualified to run by and see the property in person from the outside.

New to renting / landlording.  We are renting out my fiance's house and after only 36 hours of having the listing posted, we've had 16 inquiries thus far with several folks stating how very interested they are.  

Having followed several guidelines, etc. they all were provided with the forms:

1.  Application Process & Qualification Standards

2.  Potential Tenant Questionnaire

However, it has occurred to me that we will have multiple parties that meet the qualification standards at one time.  Given this, how are we to proceed?

1.  Give all that meet #1 and #2 above a application?  If so, how in the world do we justify charging a application fee (most likely $35 ... to cover Background and Credit checks) if we are only going to choose one?  

2.  What if we have multiple applicants who have No evictions, credit above 600, long job history, make well over 3x the monthly rent, No felonies, etc.?  In other words, if we choose the one we like the best based on all the information obtained ... how do we tell the other 3 or 4 or 5 applicants that although they met and possibly exceeded all the requirements, we chose someone else?  

Or, is this normal and typical?  

Should I only ask one applicant at a time (or 2 at most) to apply and do background and credit checks?

Just a bit confused as to how to deal with multiple applicants who may meet all our requirements and how to legally choose one and deny the others.

I live in Indiana and don't see anything specific in IN Fair Housing laws.

Thanks for any help!

Brian