All Forum Posts by: Lu Carter

When a prospective tenant is living in my area, I often set up a quick home visit at their current rental. I try to do it with an appointment but not with a lot of advanced notice. This helps me make informed decisions about who to rent to.  I do this before requiring tenants to pay the online credit/criminal check fee and I do not take any additional application fees. In the past, I have only walked through houses that reflect the renters' care of the property. Or if a prospective tenant refuses to let me walk-through, it is a deal killer and I can usually find something else in my tenant criteria that excludes them.

Recently I did a walk-through and through there was no serious damage apparent, there was evidence of heavy wear and tear. I decided not to continue with the tenant application. The awkwardness was that there were no other excluding factors in their application but I felt I could not tell them why I was not moving forward with their application. 

Maybe I should add some wording to my tenant criteria handout that includes something about an acceptable home visit but I am not sure what wording would be fair and appropriate.  Any ideas?

There should be a legitimate reason why the tenant has no social security number. In the case of my tenants they were foreign nationals who were not allowed to work in the US.  They did however have verifiable income and past rental history.  Running a credit and criminal check without a SS# is a waste of time.  I did collect a double security deposit.

Thank you all, 

I took another look at the criminal report and all the vehicle related incidents. And I googled some of the codes.  The most recent incident is from early January 2015 and involves driving with a suspended license.  That is a clear tipping point for me combined with the other aspects of the application.  Actually the only strong aspect was the income from a new job. So now I need to draft an adverse action letter and name the credit report source.  

Dodged another bullet as we say...

Good assessment Penny.  I wish I just had something strong besides the income.  I can offset the missing rental history by requiring a double deposit.  I can overlook credit issues from an early twenties person or things that go back more than 5 years.  I am concerned that he was still having court issues in early 2015 over license plate expiration and lapses in insurance, etc.  That was when he was already making a good salary. 

hmmm,still not decided

His new job income is 5 times the rent.  Current landlord said the rent has never been late, tenant has not asked for anything but landlord has not gone inside property for 2 years. Before that in an apartment complex they said tenant paid on time and at move out, a part of the security deposit was held because a mattress and box spring were left behind but no other damages.  Before that landlord said he couldn't remember anything about condition but that he does remember there were rent payment issues. (this was in 2008-2010 when tenant was also struggling with student loans and car insurance and speeding tickets etc. ).  Applicant is now 33. 

I have received an application from a husband and wife for my SFH in the Austin area. Rent is 1,950 mo. I am not pressured to get someone in right away but of course I would like to. I don't have any other applications at this point but this is the active season.

Husband is coming from another state to begin job in same field as past job.  Salary is higher than nec to meet my requirements and I have verified his employment.  Have spoken to past landlords also.  He rents his current house for only $975.  He has never been late with rent but the landlord has never been inside the property since it was leased in 2013.  Now here is the kicker. Wife's mysmartmove score is 801 and husband's is 543. He has credit limit of $210. 5 years ago he had numerous late student loan payments.  Also he has a slew of vehicle related issues under his criminal report.  None appear to be serious.  The most recent ones, settled in 2015, involve driving without insurance and driving with an expired plate.  (During that time he was making a high salary so this seems like an example of financial irresponsibility to me.) 

Normally I only accept very qualified tenants. This is a B+ class property. Before I saw his credit/criminal report I was going to offer the lease with a double deposit.  Now I considering denying the application.

Opinion are welcome.

Here is a follow-up to my posting. 

I completed my pre-verification of landlord history and income and all info was acceptable. (The woman's income alone meets 3x the rent.  The man works in construction/property maintenance but I did speak to 2 companies who use him on a regular basis. ) The applicants were eager to pay the deposit and sign the lease. They also offered to sign a 2 year lease. Then I informed the applicants that the next step was the credit/criminal check.  I use mysmartmove and applicants pay the fee online.  Both said great.

Well, that was Friday afternoon and now it is Sunday morning.  Not a peep from them. 

I asked my applicant about the license.  The woman told me that she had been divorced about 3 years ago in her former state and that she changed her last name.  She says Texas is asking for her divorce paperwork, etc and making it difficult.  Her fiance was also divorced in his former state.  I'm not sure why he hasn't gotten a Texas license.  Both of their vehicles have Texas plates.  

I guess this sounds reasonable especially for the woman who changed her name.  Of course this is not a serious issue in itself, but I always do a very thorough verification process and try to cross check all info that they provide to me.

I am screening a woman and her fiance (mid 40's) who have lived in TX for 4 years.  So far the information about landlord history and income is normal.  On their applications I ask for drivers license number and state and they have both listed a license from a former state.  Their rental and employment history shows them in Texas since 2011 and there is no information about them continuing to do business in their former state. Their current out-of-state licenses will expire within the next year. Is this flag of any sort?  I believe Texas does require new residents to obtain a Texas drivers license.  

I was thinking something like:  Tub chips $10 per chip