? for landlords
AllEmailDeletedImmediately
George Grapman
> how do you vet your tenants?
>
>
current landlord and if they get good feedback they stop. What they
forget is that it might be a problem tenant and the landlord is eager to
get rid of them. Therefore it pays to go to previous landlords.
Joe
www.freecreditreport.com - Ask for a copy of this report with their
application.
It won't help with the human side, but with the money side, it might.
--
Joe in Northern, NJ - V#8013-R
Currently Riding The "Mother Ship"
http://yunx.com/valk.htm
Ride a motorcycle in or near NJ?
http://tinyurl.com/hmzj
http://tinyurl.com/5apkg
Bill
> how do you vet your tenants?
These days you can get a tenant who sets up a drug lab and this can result
in a toxic waste clean-up which can cost a small fortune or result in the
need to demolish the property!
Basically a landlord is loaning a property worth $100,000.00 and up to a
total stranger. So a good idea to get to know the tenant real good BEFORE
renting to them...
Can do a rental check to check the renters prior experiences with other
landlords. (Paid on time, left property in good condition, etc.)
Can do a driver's license check. (The thinking being that a responsible
person would also obey traffic laws. Also if driving under influence
charge(s), this can be an indication of drug use and/or irresponsibility.)
Can run credit check. (If person has paid other bills on time it is an
indication that the person will also pay their rent on time.)
Can run criminal background check. (Looking for drug charges here mostly.)
George
>> how do you vet your tenants?
>
> www.freecreditreport.com - Ask for a copy of this report with their
> application.
>
> It won't help with the human side, but with the money side, it might.
But having apartments I can say the human side is 95% of the equation.
barbie gee
On Mon, 18 Feb 2008, AllEmailDeletedImmediately wrote:
> how do you vet your tenants?
Use a standard application form for all tenants.
Screen further with a credit check and work verification and 2 previous
landlords, done by a tenant screening agency. Prospective tenant(s)
pay $30 screening fee upfront. Call the 2 landlords
yourself, as well.
AllEmailDeletedImmediately
"Bill" <billnoma...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:61tc0uF...@mid.individual.net...
so how do i go about doing these checks?
George Grapman
pocket the fees. I would tell the landlord that fees are part of their
cost of doing business (would you pay a bank to run a check when you
apply for a credit card?) or, at the very least, I would offer a
separate check made out to the reporting.
On the other side of the coin a tenant can screen a landlord.Assuming
it is a multi-unit building go there in the late afternoon when people
are returning from work and ask about things like repairs and maintenance.
barbie gee
On Mon, 18 Feb 2008, George Grapman wrote:
> barbie gee wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 18 Feb 2008, AllEmailDeletedImmediately wrote:
>>
>>> how do you vet your tenants?
>>
>> Use a standard application form for all tenants. Screen further with a
>> credit check and work verification and 2 previous landlords, done by a
>> tenant screening agency. Prospective tenant(s) pay $30 screening fee
>> upfront. Call the 2 landlords yourself, as well.
>>
> An unscrupulous landlord could take many applications and simply pocket the
> fees. I would tell the landlord that fees are part of their cost of doing
> business (would you pay a bank to run a check when you apply for a credit
> card?) or, at the very least, I would offer a separate check made out to the
> reporting.
Making out a check to the reporting company would be just fine.
Generally, though, I don't take an application or bother with a credit
check until the initial interviews with a prospective tenant who is
seriously interested in taking the apartment. They must have satisfied me
that they are gainfully employed and understand the lease terms and
building rules clearly. It's a mutual screening; if they don't like the
building rules and lease terms, they don't have to apply.
George Grapman
A rental agent always walked outside with the applicant after showing
them the place so he could look at their car. No, he did not care about
the make.model or condition, he simply looked at the expiration date on
the tags.If they expired 10 months ago it could indicate a problem such
as inability to re-register because they had no insurance or too many
unpaid parking tickets.
Joe
Agreed... My biggest problem tenant was a people issue... On SO many
levels!
Logan Shaw
> how do you vet your tenants?
I'm not a landlord (and so don't have tenants). But, a good friend
worked for an apartment management company for several years, and
based on what I've heard through my friend, the employees of the
management company seem to get a lot of training on how they should
behave in order to avoid lawsuits or legal troubles related to the
Fair Housing Act.
And, you may remember that craigslist.org was the target of a lawsuit
about the same thing (even though it was eventually dismissed):
http://www.craigslist.org/about/fair.housing.html
My point is that while thinking about how to vet tenants, it might
be prudent to think about how to avoid anything that could even be
mistakenly perceived as discriminatory.
- Logan
barbie gee
Plenty of books out there on "landlording".
get to a library.
<http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_kk_1?ie=UTF8&search-alias=stripbooks&field-keywords=landlording>
find out your municipal and state housing ordinances, as well as the Fair
Housing Act. Use REAL leases, don't do month to month verbal agreements.
etc.
Bill
> so how do i go about doing these checks?
Multiple checks, search google.com for the words...
renter check
Renter history check - look for local rental association - ask large
apartment complexes where they get their checks run. Local landlord
associations may do this and also have free forms for member's use like
rental agreements, lease agreements, etc.
Driver's license check - Go to DMV.
Credit check - search google.com for the words...
tenant credit check
Criminal check - State police.
George Grapman
You can not just go to the police and request a criminal check .
pc
In Palm Beach County, FL [and maybe all the other counties in FL] you
can can go the the Sheriff's website and look up arrests.
George Grapman
It varies from state to state. In addition I suspect in your example
you would only find arrests in that jurisdiction. Also, I think it is
wrong to release information when an arrest did not lead to a conviction.
AllEmailDeletedImmediately
"George Grapman" <sfge...@paccbell.net> wrote in message
news:n8Fuj.11741$Ch6...@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net...
i didn't think so either. but it do have peeps.
>
barbie gee
for all that time and screwing around, if you value your time, you'll call
a real professional Tenant Screening Agency. they can get info
nationwide, which is useful if the prospective tenants have only moved to
town recently.
work w/ someone that's got some certifications and has been in business
for awhile.
see:
National Association of Professional Background Screeners
National Assoication of Screening Agencies
others
George Grapman
>
>
> On Tue, 19 Feb 2008, Bill wrote:
>
>>>
>>> so how do i go about doing these checks?
>>
>> Multiple checks, search google.com for the words...
>> renter check
>>
>> Renter history check - look for local rental association - ask large
>> apartment complexes where they get their checks run. Local landlord
>> associations may do this and also have free forms for member's use like
>> rental agreements, lease agreements, etc.
>>
>> Driver's license check - Go to DMV.
>>
>> Credit check - search google.com for the words...
>> tenant credit check
>>
>> Criminal check - State police.
>
> for all that time and screwing around, if you value your time, you'll
> call a real professional Tenant Screening Agency. they can get info
> nationwide, which is useful if the prospective tenants have only moved
> to town recently.
Speaking of which it sometimes is a better idea to let a qualified
rental agent do everything from screening tenants, showing units,
collecting rents doing repairs and and handling evictions.
I lived in a 12 unit building that was run by a management firm. The
owner decided to save money by doing everything himself. After numerous
night and weekend calls about hot water,plumbing problems and trips to
the building to collect late rent he decided to get a new property
management firm.
aemeijers
building with decent tenants. But if you have an older building, or only
a rental house or two, a management company can quickly make the margin
between the mortgage payment and the gross receipts vanish without a
trace. Not everyone should be a landlord- it does take commitment, and
some basic level of knowledge about the trades, as well as all the usual
pitfalls of running a small businesss.
aem sends...
SMS
> Credit check - search google.com for the words...
> tenant credit check
I recently got some new tenants, and I was amazed at how hard it's
become to run a credit check on someone. Due to all the identity theft
problems, even with written permission it's become complicated for an
individual to get a credit report on someone, whereas it used to be very
easy.
I finally signed up with clearscreening.com, which required a lot of
documentation, including a property tax statement of the rental
property, a copy of my phone bill, a copy of my driver's license, and
proof of insurance for the rental property, in order to open an account.
Even with all that they could only run a credit report from one agency
(Equifax). There are dire warnings about the illegality of running a
credit check on anyone other than prospective tenants that have granted
you written permission to run a report. They'll also run criminal
checks, eviction reports, NSF check reports, etc., all for additional fees.
SpammersDie
"SMS" <scharf...@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:47be0b97$0$36374$742e...@news.sonic.net...
> Bill wrote:
>
>> Credit check - search google.com for the words...
>> tenant credit check
>
> I recently got some new tenants, and I was amazed at how hard it's become
> to run a credit check on someone. Due to all the identity theft problems,
> even with written permission it's become complicated for an individual to
> get a credit report on someone,
Good.
Janie
It is a good idea for a tenant to check out the landlord too! This person
has a key to the door of the place where you will live and keep your stuff.
All landlords are not honest people. All landlords do not keep up their
property and abide by all terms in leases. Run a credit check on the
landlord if he wants to check on you. Fair is fair.
I moved into a place only to find out the landlord was had not paid his
taxes in three years and had poor credit. Nothing got fixed in that
building because people wouldn't work for him due to unpaid bills. When the
heat quit working during a cold winter, I moved out although I had several
months left on the lease. Finding a place in some areas is not easy under
the best of circumstances and moving in the middle of winter is not a
pleasant task.