All Forum Posts by: Mags S.

@Georgia Acres - sounds like crappy prospective tenant pool.  where are you advertising? Try Zillow which will pass to other sites like hot pads, etc.   If my rental was close to or at market pricing, I would change where to look for prospective tenants before lowering my asking rent price. 

@Dana R.  you want to look at the bank statements like checking - personal or joint checking acct - not a business account. You want to basically see if they can afford your place and if they (wife included) pay their bills on time. 

If they have an account in collections, I'd pass without a doubt. I remember years ago when DH was handling tenant process, he had offered a family our rental without checking prospective tenant credit.  (Sometimes the process would wear DH down and he essentially would give in to a prospective who clearly showed interest in property - you know the type candidate - they reach out often asking and gushing how much they wanted to raise their family at our rental, etc.). I insisted we follow our process and With prospective tenant approval, I had their credit report run. OMG they weren't even paying a 5$/mo phone bill but yet they both drove fairly new cars.  I asked my DH, if the aren't paying 5$/mo bills, what makes one think they would pay you?  Needless to say, we hung in there another month and the qualified tenants we put in there stayed 6 yrs and never had late rent or late utility payments. 

I must've missed the collections statement. if this prospective has an account in collection, I would just come out and pointedly ask them 'are you currently paying off the collection account '  Their answer should be very telling. However, I wouldn't believe an affirmative answer - it will be shown in their personal joint checking acct statements - every month 

@Andres Perez - Ooops! That site is prolly phila.gov.  Can always call 311, they use knowledge databases so can give you the same info.  Just plan to spend a morning at city services to take care of it all. 

@carrie 

@Carrie Gulledge

Tell the prospective tenant that credit checks are done and a poor rental history and a foreclosure will not get him into any unit you manage.  You don't wish to take his money knowing he will not be approved.  End of conversation.

If you feel compelled to take an app from him, those deficiencies should be noted in his application.  On my cover sheet to the app, I list how a prospective would be evaluated.  I allowed myself some leeway, like 'acceptable credit' and then the requirements that takes care of the liars - 'complete and accurate application' and 'positive feedback from previous landlords' in your case.

 I'm a CYA person so I make the prospective tenant sign/date the cover sheet outlining requirements and return it with their completed app.  Not one complained

@brian 

@Brian Foy  I agree with the posters that said to start off with an existing lease.  Sweet talk a local pa realtor for a copy.  They are pretty much already approved and there is soooo much in fine print that can be missed when starting from scratch.  Add addendums to the lease for anything you wish to change or add (big or small)  I put a line next to each addendum verbiage for the tenants to acknowledge/initial. You know what they say, if it's not in writing, it doesn't count

@mark Douglas   (Don't know why the link doesn't work now.)  I definitely pre-screen electronically or via phone before showing the place.  Pre-screening includes: income requirements in very plain terms (annual income) as some ppl don't seem to comprehend what 3x rent really means, no smokers, pets, etc.  I schedule multiple ppl at one time.  Usually a Saturday morning with a short window, like 1 or 1 1/2 hrs max.  I'd rather have them lined up waiting their turn instead of me waiting for no-shows.  I show each party individually and the others wait outside.  While showing the property, I review the requirements again and many stumble over the "how's your credit' question when you look at them head on.  Some liars snuck in, but very few. 

I did not accept any monies for the credit checks at the time of the application, which were kept at the property. (I was going to use a 3rd party vendor and prospective tenant will pay 3rd party directly). The coversheet to the application (used BP app) reviewed how they would be evaluated and if their application got accepted, at that point I would run credit, background checks, etc. and they would pay the vendor?  Between face-to-face meetings and an application, I had enough to go on to decide, if they would be a good fit for property/neighbors and for us to deal with.  I only had the oppty to meet and speak with one of the prospective tenants, so before running the credt/background checks, I 'invited' the prospective to bring the other tenants (children) to view the house and that we wanted to meet them. Yes, that clearly set a different tone than the usual process.  After that, I ran theTenant Checks via smartmove. This process worked well for me.

you will need a business privilege license to conduct business in philly including renting your property.  Run a search at philly.gov on rental license or renting a residential property.  There was a write up of what was needed and links to appropriate forms.

For my SFD, the tenant pays water/sewer, electric, and gas which includes the heat.  In order to be eligible for the gas co-op program, you will also be required to join HAPCO, a landlord organization and agree to providing access to property when the gas company requests access.  Many moons ago, the water company had a similar landlord  program.  At that time, at most they would let us know that the tenant had an overdue balance of $.02.  The other time they communicated to us that there was A big jump in water usage from previous months usage.  We had the tenant check the basement toilet which was dripping.

I used a std commonwealth lease and just added things that specifically applied to my needs. My lease states that the tenant is responsible for utilities and they have X-number of days after signing lease, to get the utilities changed to tenant name. The water bill takes a few months to change over the name, so the bill currently comes to the us and the tenant pays it. 

My lease also states the tenant is responsible for maintaining the small front yard.  (During the interview process, I found out that the prospective tenant grew up helping her parent maintain a community garden).  Tenant also has the responsibility of shoveling the outdoor steps and sidewalks.  The addendum also states that any private or municipal fines is totally their responsibility.  In our neck of the City, recently they have been fining: not shoveling your sidewalks within X-number of hours to snow stops, also co-mingling ur trash with re-cycles (they include photos), dumping anywhere on your property they assume it's you, and now they ticket for putting ur trash out too early. If you have more than the allotted number of trash bags on trash day, that can be an issue too. 

Whatever I wanted or felt I needed to expound on something in the canned lease, I added an addendums.  Your lease is your strongest support so some significant time updating it to include what is important. Whenever a question is asked, the first thought should be 'what does the lease say.'  

Best wishes on your venture.   @andres Perez 

get 3-6 months worth of checking account statements.  You want to see his bills, including rent and utilities are paid on time, every single month.  Something doesn't add up.

@Brian Foy  if you have appliances in the unit, address them in the lease.  I used a standard PA lease and added addendums to address items not covered specifically in lease. My addendum regarding appliances says that only the stove is included as part of the rent.  All other appliances are there at the discretion of the landlord/owner. The exact verbiage basically says I can remove appliances (exception is stove) should I wish  or elect not to repair/replace them.

Talk to a local reaLtor/agent about getting a copy of standard leasing form. It'll give you a jump start.

@Eric La Pratt  I felt same as you, I paid an IKEA service to come to property, measure, and produce everything necessary within their software.  The design details were saved under my IKEA login, so I just pulled up the design at the store. The staff at store did everything else.  I weighed my time spent trying to operate their software, versus using their service. My ultimate goal was to get the cabinets ordered properly without glitches and move on. It was worth the nominal expense to me - YMMV.  Everyone's different.