All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Jose

Good evening, BP.

I'm writing my Tenant Rejection Letter and found some reasons online as to why a tenant is denied their application. So far, I have:

1. Application incomplete
2. Application contains false information
3. Delinquent rent
4. Delinquent credit obligations
5. Insufficient credit file
6. Insufficient credit references
7. Insufficient employment record
8. Insufficient landlord details
9. Insufficient references
10. Temporary or irregular employment
11. Insufficient rental history
12. Insufficient income for amount of credit requested
13. No credit file
14. No employment record
15. No rental history
16. Record of evictions
17. Record of bankruptcy, foreclosure, or repossession
18. Record of excessive or overdue debts and obligations
19. Temporary residence
20. Low credit score
21. Unable to verify credit references
22. Unable to verify employment
23. Unable to verify income
24. Unable to verify rental history
25. Negative report from previous landlord
26. Negative report from employer
27. Owner chose another applicant
28. Other: _____________________

I feel that the more reasons I have, the better off I'll be; however, I could significantly cut this list down by combining two items into one. For example, instead of having

1. Insufficient credit file
2. Insufficient credit references

I could just say

1. Insufficient credit file or references

But then again, I'd also like to be as specific as possible so as to leave no ambiguities. The tenant could question what "references" in the above statement means: credit references or people references?

Also, my tenant rejection letter is two pages long. Am I just thinking too much about this?

Good afternoon, BP.

I'm currently creating systems on what to do if a tenant wants to break his/her lease and stumbled upon this link during my research: https://www.lsnjlaw.org/Housing/Landlord-Tenant/Leases/Pages/Ending-Leases.aspx. There's an ominous little sentence within the page and it reads as follows:

I know for a fact that NJ is a tenant-friendly state. So what happens if the tenant changed his/her mind about moving but I've already found a new tenant to occupy the old would-be-moving tenant's unit? Would having the tenant give his notice to vacate in writing be enough?

Good morning, BP.

I'm at the point in my real estate investment career where I'm looking for a real estate lawyer who will review some documents I've made, which include:

• Fixed/month-to-month lease agreements
• Estoppel certificates
• Pet addendums
• Tenant application
• Notices to quit

What other forms should the lawyer inspect in order to close any existing loopholes, add clauses, and carry out other necessary revisions? Or would the lawyer provide these documents for a fee?

You're correct. My line of thinking when I stared this thread was whether or not there was insurance that covered lost rent *from vacancies. Now I understand that there isn't and I must have reserves ready to cover the months where I don't have a tenant in a unit. However, I still do need Landlord Insurance. Or homeowner's insurance. Still debating on which one to use as my first property.

Didn't know lost rental income didn't apply to vacancies or pandemics. Thanks for the clarification, guys.

So reserves are a must. Got it. But I still need insurance. I'm doing some digging here at BP and found some prospective companies: All-State and Liberty Mutual are some potential candidates. But I could probably hire an insurance broker to help me find the best deals and save hundreds of dollars in the future.

I'm also doing my research as well. Maybe there's no independent policy that solely covers lost rent, for it is bundled in a Landlord Insurance - I just learned about this - that also covers property damage, flood, liability, etc.

Good afternoon, BP.

When you start out and buy that first duplex (or other multi-family property), would you rather A) save enough in your reserves that you're covered for at least 6-months' worth of lost rent? or B) use an insurance company that covers for lost rent and let the tenant pay for it?

Thanks for sharing your experience, @Mark F.. Perhaps the situation we're in right now is similar to what happened in 2008-09. Did you close under your name when you closed on your SFR?

Currently, I'm stuck at my 9-5 job here in Jersey. My goal is to house-hack a duplex via FHA sometime next year and use the cashflow to purchase my next duplex. But between now and then, I'm playing defense by saving my paychecks to secure my downpayment + reserves; using eforms and ezlandlordforms to create a system (i.e. generate leases, pet addendums, estoppel certificates, rent reminders, notices to vacate, etc); reviewing a variety of insurance policies; knowing how to split utilities between the landlord and a tenant in a duplex; dealing with inherited tenants; learning how to read the market in order to raise rent; and a bunch of other things before I close on my first property.

I'd like to hear stories from fellow New Jerseyans on how they used FHA loans on duplexes (or perhaps any property up to a fourplex) to build up their portfolio. Although books and forums are a great source of information, nothing beats the stories of real-life experiences.