All Forum Posts by: Mahesh P.

Hello,

I'm looking to get quotes on my ~20 year old gas furnace/AC unit. It was installed when the home was built (~2200 sq. ft). Its working fine now but want to get quotes etc. just in case since tenants live there and I'm ~2 hrs away.

Any good suggestions on installers? Thanks.

Mahesh.

I give a discount of $25 on the rent if the money is deposited to my account before the 1st of each month. In addition to strong screening for good tenants, this tactic has always ensured rent on time - even a week to 10 days before the due date.

Thanks Colleen for the response. They have a child going to college. So the non-working spouse will be here while the other spouse works abroad with an employer abroad. Thanks for the tip about background check etc. Yes, I plan to do it. Also, as you suggested, have the non-working spouse as the primary applicant.

The issue is that they have international credit cards. However, there is no way to check the balances, payment history etc. I have a lot of information about their assets but very little knowledge about the liabilities.

Thanks.

MP.

Hello,

We just received an application from a family who lived abroad for ~15 years. They are US citizens but not residing in the US for quite a while. They claim because of this absence, there would not be any credit report available. They have provided details of current tenancy in the foreign country as well as pay stubs from their international employer. One spouse plans to continue working abroad while the other stays back in the US. From the pay stubs etc, the income is good to cover the rent.

How does on go about screening such tenants? What should we watch out for? The family is in a hurry to rent because they are temporarily staying in a extended stay hotel. All the documents provided look too good to be true.

Any ideas/thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

MP.

Hello,

New to BP. Thanks for the wealth of information found here.

I had a question about security deposit in Pennsylvania when it involves pets. I understand that under PA law, the maximum deposit a landlord can charge is 2 months. However, after the 1st year, the landlord can hold only a month's deposit. Does it mean that after a year, even if I allow a pet on the property, I cannot hold more than 1 month's of deposit? 

To offset this, I'm thinking of doing a non-refundable upfront and a pet rent each month. Very standard from what I have seen here on BP. However, my agent advises going with just the upfront non-refundable deposit. The downside with this is that the longer the tenants stays, the worse off I'm with only an upfront and not an additional monthly pet rent.

Any thought on how to structure this? Thanks.

MP.

Hello,

My real estate agent will screen prospective tenants for us using the NTN Decision Point service. I have never used this service. Previously, I requested the tenants' agent to provide me with a credit report and credit scores. My agent tells me that it is illegal to get FICO credit scores? Is this true? For me FICO credit scores have been somewhat of a reliable indicator of good/bad tenants.

I know SmartMove by Transunion provides credit scores. 

Some specific questions:

(1) Does NTN provide credit scores? If not, how can I obtain them? I know they provide this score from 0-100 where 80-100 score makes the applicant acceptable as a tenant. 

(2) I cannot pull the credit reports directly myself, correct? Is so, I can request the tenants' to pull their reports (from say annualcreditreport.com) and provide with the application, correct?

(3) Some credit card companies provide credit scores. Can I ask to provide a credit card statement if the score is available?

(4) What other sources are available to get FICO credit scores?

Any help/suggestions much appreciated. Thank you.

MP.

Thank you all for the responses.

Hello,

Is there a place/website that can provide information on rents paid by tenants in a particular neighborhood. I'm trying to figure out the rental market in my neighborhood but can only see what landlords are asking - cannot tell what the eventual rent was (like sold price on a house). Thanks.

MP.