I use CitiCredit. A few questions and documents to verifty you are a landlord and then you are set-up and can choose from a simple credit check to rental history, bad checks, criminal background, etc.
not necessarily......
in chicago, i have many sect 8 tenants. when their lease expires, if they do not sign another one, legally it automatically switches to a month-to-month lease which only requires 30 or 60 days notice for the tenant to move. that would qualify as not having a lease. you can still keep getting your money without submitting a new lease.
but, sect 8 in chicago will not force the tenant to move. they make you carry out an eviction if the tenant will not move after you give them the legal notice of lease non-renewal.
I use CitiCredit to do the credit and background checks. There is a form letter that will print after running the credit and background checks and it gives several reasons why you are not renting to this applicant. I choose one of the reasons, print the letter and mail it to the applicant. If they call I tell them their letter is in the mail.
I tell them someone more qualified got the place. If you turn them down because of credit, you are required to send them a letter stating that. This will allow them to get a copy of their credit reports from the reporting agencies for free.
thanks for the advice. I will simply tell them the residence went to someone more qualified and leave it at that. I hate being the bad guy, lol, but guess i better get used to it in this biz.
Tanya: You are not the "bad guy". Choosing the right tenant is the most important thing that you do. Choosing the wrong one can be a nightmare for you and your business. You owe it to your other tenants (who are your customers) to place the best candidate (their neighbor) that you can.
If you decide to reject a candidate, just make sure you are doing it for business reasons and you will be okay. If your rejection is due to credit or criminal records, they have likely been rejected before and are living with the consequences of past decisions. Not that everyone can control their past but taking on someone elses credit/crimminal issues is way beyond your responsibility as a landlord.
I use CitiCredit. A few questions and documents to verifty you are a landlord and then you are set-up and can choose from a simple credit check to rental history, bad checks, criminal background, etc.
www.saferent.com
-or-
National Tenant Network- www.ntnnet.com
Are both good choices. [ Edited by d_random on Date 05/15/2006 ]
Thanks
not necessarily......
in chicago, i have many sect 8 tenants. when their lease expires, if they do not sign another one, legally it automatically switches to a month-to-month lease which only requires 30 or 60 days notice for the tenant to move. that would qualify as not having a lease. you can still keep getting your money without submitting a new lease.
but, sect 8 in chicago will not force the tenant to move. they make you carry out an eviction if the tenant will not move after you give them the legal notice of lease non-renewal.
I use CitiCredit to do the credit and background checks. There is a form letter that will print after running the credit and background checks and it gives several reasons why you are not renting to this applicant. I choose one of the reasons, print the letter and mail it to the applicant. If they call I tell them their letter is in the mail.
I tell them someone more qualified got the place. If you turn them down because of credit, you are required to send them a letter stating that. This will allow them to get a copy of their credit reports from the reporting agencies for free.
[ Edited by finniganps on Date 04/25/2006 ]
thanks for the advice. I will simply tell them the residence went to someone more qualified and leave it at that. I hate being the bad guy, lol, but guess i better get used to it in this biz.
Tanya: You are not the "bad guy". Choosing the right tenant is the most important thing that you do. Choosing the wrong one can be a nightmare for you and your business. You owe it to your other tenants (who are your customers) to place the best candidate (their neighbor) that you can.
If you decide to reject a candidate, just make sure you are doing it for business reasons and you will be okay. If your rejection is due to credit or criminal records, they have likely been rejected before and are living with the consequences of past decisions. Not that everyone can control their past but taking on someone elses credit/crimminal issues is way beyond your responsibility as a landlord.
I think Loon, Ceinvests, and Monkfish all gave some very excellent advice here.
But I have to ask Loon…do we have to call them “rejects”? How about the “criteria-challenged”? LOL-LOL