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^^^ Thanks, I was just curious. It's nothing I have to worry about as I have a pretty good all-around reputation where I live but I've successfully sued a previous landlord (commercial) in the past 15 years and am in the middle of a suit against another previous residential landlord with every reason to expect a win. I would hope that landlords who do check the records wouldn't automatically turn down a prospective tenant based simply on the fact that they'd sued a landlord at some time.
They might..and legally they are able to do this.
I remember reading a story about a landlord that turned down an attorney that wanted to rent. He turned her down because she was an attorney and he didn't want to rent to attorneys because there was a higher risk of a lawsuit.
Guess what happened next?
She sued him for turning him down. Discrimination. He won. Attorneys are not a protected class.
So, this is fascinating info. I use a credit service which does an eviction check, and runs credit through Trans Union. These only show any unlawful detainers, or any public records of judgments or bankruptcies.
So, how would I go about finding the lawsuit information you are talking about? If you give me an example or a link even to your county, etc., I'll be able to figure it out for doing it here in CA.
Thanks Kim L and Lacerta for this great info. The more info the better.
I always google applicants, and am amazed at what I find. For instance just the other day, I had a student applicant, and I just had a bad feeling about him, but couldn't find anything solid to deny him with. Then I googled him, and found him listed on a police website for having received a citation for being in a public park after hours. I figured cops don't just walk around parks after hours looking to give out tickets, so there was probably more than that going on.
Anyway, I knew he had previous problems with a roommate, which made me wonder if he'd be problematic, so when i found the police record, I felt comfortable denying him. I sent him the link and told him he was too much of a risk :-)
Google has been helpful, but court records would be even better!
In my state, we use the court repository website. You just search by name and it brings up any and all lawsuits, evictions, divorces, even speeding tickets that the person has received in the state. It isn't perfect, as if the person has ever lived out of state, it doesn't give you any of that information, but it does help. https://www.idcourts.us/repository/start.do
I'd be careful with being too judgmental on things found on google, though. The internet is garbage in, garbage out, with no information guaranteed. I wouldn't turn someone down just because they had a ticket for walking through the park after hours without knowing the rest of the story. To me, that is like turning someone down because they have a lot of speeding tickets. It isn't that important and isn't related to their ability to pay rent or take care of the property.
That said, I've used google too, but more of a "what questions to ask" tool. We had an applicant once who had a couple of felony credit card fraud hits on her repository, that she was found guilty and actually served time for (her application said she had never been convicted of a felony). I googled her looking for more information, and found that she had been heavily involved in an identity theft scam. One of those "I'm a religious person and need help moving my money into the US" sort of things. She was the person sending out all the emails and conning people into giving their credit card information. A bit more googling found a mugshot of her when she was arrested, and it was the same person. We did ask her about it before turning her down and she gave us a song and dance about mistaken identity and how it was someone else with the same name. Obviously untrue unless it was an identical twin sister. We obviously did not rent to her.
^^^ Thanks, I was just curious. It's nothing I have to worry about as I have a pretty good all-around reputation where I live but I've successfully sued a previous landlord (commercial) in the past 15 years and am in the middle of a suit against another previous residential landlord with every reason to expect a win. I would hope that landlords who do check the records wouldn't automatically turn down a prospective tenant based simply on the fact that they'd sued a landlord at some time.
Suing 2 landlords in 15 years, one of them commercial (which in my mind is more common and totally different than a residential landlord) and winning one or both, is different than only having rented 2 places in 2 years and suing both your landlords, and losing both times. I wouldn't worry.
Often teens hang out in certain parks just as a spot to meet up. Maybe it's a local lake or beach and they just cruise through to see which of their friends is out, discuss plans for the evening, etc.
Likely the cops went through and told some to get out. Maybe more kids showed up a half hour later (including the applicant to your rental) and then got tickets.
My point it, the park is probably one of the hangouts for the teens/young adults. I doubt there was much more going on, else they would have got tickets for alcohol or whatever else bad would have been going on.
You're right, it could have been completely innocent, and I appreciate the advice about Google, too.
The thing was this was the icing on the cake.
First, he returned his application with a hole in it from Sept to Feb last year for previous address/landlord info. I emailed him and asked about it, and asked for landlord contact info.
He emails back that he was living on campus and had problems with a roommate. And still didn't give me any contact info.
He had already told me that he was an undeclared major. I always ask, because it can be an indication of someone who will be flaky or a partier.
Also, it was his father who contacted me and wanted to do all of the negotiating, communicating, etc., and dad is a doctor in St. Louis - kid goes to school here in CA. I said I wanted to just deal with the kid, as he'd be my tenant. 2nd red flag, when the parents want to do all the negotiating, etc.
He's been pretty flaky about communication. Then got rude about my asking about what happened on campus.
Then, he finally told me the problem was that the roommate was doing drugs in the dorm room.
And he moved off campus, his freshman year (when living on campus is required for first year), in February, mid-term, breaking his lease with the university, and moving into an apartment building for only 4 months before moving back to St Louis for the summer.
And he still didn't give me contact info for the dorms on campus. I just got the feeling he was kicked off campus, and maybe the drugs were the reason. Maybe they were his roommates...and he's totally innocent...
The referral I got from the apt bldg put "N/A" in the blank for whether or not there were complaints about him as a tenant. Again, maybe the manager knew everything else about this guy, except whether or not there were complaints about him.....maybe it's an innocent thing again...
So, you see, then I googled him, and found that a month after he had "roommate" problems, he got a citation for being in the park after hours.
If it was just one or two things I had to explain away, that would be something I could maybe work with. Each thing by itself could be nothing. I kept giving him the benefit of the doubt, but there were just too many red flags here, when i have so many mature, responsible students to choose from. There were just too many things that needed excuses, reasons, explaining.
I can only work with what i've got.
As you can see, I feel bad about it LOL! My boss accuses me of being the den mother, as opposed to the landlady, so I fret when I have to deny someone, but experience tells me...as Oprah says...believe the first red flag......believe the second red flag........and definitely, believe the third red flag.
Thanks for the discussion on sueing, and records..but I am not really worried about it just now. So, pls take that discussion in another thread, I would really like this thread to address what I had asked.
Thanks for the discussion on sueing, and records..but I am not really worried about it just now. So, pls take that discussion in another thread, I would really like this thread to address what I had asked.
The general consensus seems to be that $250 for the damage to the countertop is fair and reasonable so what further questions do you have on the subject? And you did bring up court.
Thanks for the discussion on sueing, and records..but I am not really worried about it just now. So, pls take that discussion in another thread, I would really like this thread to address what I had asked.
Sorry, but you're not the keeper of the thread...the MODs are. If they felt any of the info or comments were off topic or not useful, they'd delete them.
As for the suing and public records, that info just might come in handy for you or for someone else reading this thread.
Another thing about going to small claims court. It goes on public record.
Any future landlord will see that you sued your landlord. Any future employer will see that you sued your landlord. You might get turned down for an apartment or a job because a future landlord or future employer might deem you high risk/sue happy.
They might worry that you will sue them. It's not fair, but it's legal.
IMO, it's not worth it to sue for amts under $500. Don't forget time off from work plus court filing fees.
How is every future landlord or employer going to see that the OP sued anybody? That does not appear on your credit report unless someone sues YOU and you lose. Sure, it's public record (in some states) but do you think LLs or employers check the records in every jurisdiction in the country to see if someone ever filed a suit? That's absurd.
Edit: after reading a few more posts down, I see some LLs might check local court records. That may have some limited value to seek a sue happy tenant but certainly not a widespread practice. Not all courts have records online and not all states even report landlord tenant cases (like PA in most instances).
Last edited by johnp292; 07-30-2013 at 12:59 PM..
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