All Forum Posts by: Mike Moreken

We own a couple of rentals in Trenton...it's highly unlikely that that tenant pool will pay $50 *before* filling out an application. They will likely think you're just trying to collect $50 from anyone that is interested, whether they will be approved or not. 

I don't know any landlords that charge an app fee; we never have, although once an application is approved, we then charge $25 for each adult's background check. We explain that on the phone before they even see the place, and it's stated on the application as well. I don't want to take anyone's money unless I know we've approved them preliminarily.

How much is the rent? We paid for a security service for the first 6 months of one tenant's tenancy. We own the equipment, and told them after 6 months, they can pay for the service on their own (which automatically calls the police) or just use the equipment as a general alarm. They took over the payments, which were about $30 a month.

Crime rates have fallen tremendously over the last 30 years. This fall has come quite unexpectedly to most experts. Outside of Levitt linking legalized abortion to the drop in crime (a hard pill to swallow for even pro-choicers), not many have a good explanation for the drop in crime (we at similar rates as the 1950s which is hard to believe the good ole 50s had the amount of crime we do now). While I have no hard evidence myself, I believe this reduction in crime is related to the "entitlement mentality". These people can have their 'iphones and big screen tvs' to occupy their time instead of breaking into houses or robbing people to put food on the table. While the thought of tax dollars paying for those 'iphones and big screens' is bothering, I look at it as accomplishing what spending that money on the police couldn't do.