All Forum Posts by: Ted Klein

@Tiffany Stevens My properties are in Washington State which also classifies marital status as a protected class. I like your suggestion to add to my requirements guidelines of minimum income for each person. If I understand you correctly when you say “collectively” are you saying the two of them?

Obviously with 30 applicants a month, you have the experience.

@Ricardo R. All valid points and a great explanation. Definitely want all 18 & over on the lease. Thanks for sharing!

@Matt M. You are correct, landlording is hard enough without all of the what if’s. Just glad that we have BP to have discussions with others that either have the experience in the issues or a different perspective of how they would handle it.

@Dillon Dale Yeah, I see that. When starting a thread they ask for a brief description of the issue, just so happens the verbiage I chose indicated a marital status. That wasn’t my intention, I was just trying to pick a topic heading that would draw attention and get a lot of replies, which it has. I now fully agree that the consensus is clearly to sign them both so each is liable for the rent. There has been a lot of good discussion in regards of how people deal with it. 

@Matt M. I guess I didn’t mean to include you on that reply. My reply was meant as a response to the need to “toe a fine line” in regards to marital status. That reply basically redirected the whole thread to being about marital status law and not on how a lease should have been structured given the situation. I make no preferences towards marital status in my requirements.

Originally posted by @Dillon Dale:

@Ted Klein federal fair housing law lists marital status as a protected class. Toe a fine line with this. I just require a combined income of 3x the monthly rent

@Dillon Dale @Matt M. I am pretty sure in my previous posts that I never mentioned any preference towards marital status. In fact, I did write that “I just play it safe and treat everyone the same regarding marital status.?” The topic of considering marital status was brought up by others.

I have very specific requirements that are clearly defined in my listing and nowhere does it mention anything that could be considered a protective class. I do not list my phone number so that email is the preferred communication method. 

* 1 year Lease contract
* Verifiable income of 3x monthly rent
* Verifiable employment history
* Verifiable rental references
* Minimum Credit Score 675
* No Evictions
* No Pets
* No Smoking
* Utilities: Tenant (Lessee) shall be responsible for Electricity, Water, Sewer & Garbage
* First Month rent of $xxx and a Security Deposit of $xxx are required at lease signing.
* Last Month rent of $xxx is payable over 1st three months.

If the prospect states that they meet the requirements I schedule a tour. I find that this works pretty good in weeding out the non-qualifiers and minimizing my time spent driving to the property for useless showings. At least it works for me. 

@Theresa Harris Yeah I guess I probably got lucky they changed their mind, as @John Teachout mentioned that unmarried couples can be more volatile tenants.

I would still accept tenants regardless of marital status, however, there just seems to be a bit less chance of a split if they are married. At least a divorce could offer the non-breadwinner some financial benefit, whether they are the one who stays in the rental is the question. 

@Karen Margrave I’m not sure of the tenant rights laws regarding marital status in WA so I just play it safe and treat everyone the same regarding marital status.

@Curtis Mears I had been counting just the one income as you mentioned and yes she could afford it on her own, it was my concern if she left and he was left unable to pay on his own.  And yes, it makes perfect sense that they should both be on the lease. 

Well, I just got word that they have changed their mind and have found somewhere else. @John Teachout I do reiterate the requirements before they even get to talk on the phone. If they meet the requirements, then I arrange a tour. At that point I again reiterate the requirements before they get an application. If their paper application checks ok, we then send them a link for the background, credit and eviction history check. @Nathan Gesner I like your idea to individually look at their salaries to insure that each one has adequate income to cover their share. 
Anyhow, back to screening more prospects.