Would you rent to military?

[sportsterjohn]

I wonder if there are any fair housing laws that prohibit discrimination against the military. If not, there should be. If so, I hope the girl pursues it.

[therealpattman]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

It is pretty much guaranteed the renter won't lose their job. Also, if there is any rent payment issues, write her Commanding Officer a note and you'll get paid. Military renters are my favorite for my rental property. The risk of a possible deployment is worth it IMO.

I'm former navy. Feel free to PM and I can give you a better idea if there is a chance she'll deploy.



Side note: what is with PMs charging a renters finder fee here in Atlanta? My PM in Virginia doesn't charge that and only gets 10% of rent. That is pretty much standard there.

Ok, let me start by saying, for the sake of the service member keep their command especially their commanding officer out of these types of matters. Most service members are good at paying their bills and yes financial downfalls happen to military as well but you will add even more stress by going to their commanding officer. Get an immediate supervisor's contact information such as a petty officer for the navy, sergeant for the army or SNCO for the marines, in case anything happens, but please keep it at a low level for the sake of stress on that individual.

In terms of going forward, talk to them. If they still need to maintain your property for family or what not, they can always set up what is called an allotment in which the funds will be subtracted from their pay, they will never see the money and it takes the headaches out of paying bills while forward which can be hard due to the lack of a secure internet connection and phones. Again talk to the individual and have them set it up via their unit S-1, it takes like 2 minutes to do and the funds will be in your account.

If I was not clear, the Commanding Officer should be the last resort for any issues.

[LovelySummer]

She has no interest in setting anything up to pay anything. No one else in her household works and they are all poised to move with her wherever she goes. She is not willing to even show me any part of her orders to even give me a clue as to how permanent she will be or for how long. Then we found out a few other things about other debts, etc. so it's not worth going into anymore but from this conversation I have learned that waiver is not technically possible, that she cannot in essence contract away her rights provided by law in this regard (although other members of the military have told me that they have done so). Good to know. Thanks for all of the advice everyone.

Originally Posted by dpatt.marine1

Ok, let me start by saying, for the sake of the service member keep their command especially their commanding officer out of these types of matters. Most service members are good at paying their bills and yes financial downfalls happen to military as well but you will add even more stress by going to their commanding officer. Get an immediate supervisor's contact information such as a petty officer for the navy, sergeant for the army or SNCO for the marines, in case anything happens, but please keep it at a low level for the sake of stress on that individual.

In terms of going forward, talk to them. If they still need to maintain your property for family or what not, they can always set up what is called an allotment in which the funds will be subtracted from their pay, they will never see the money and it takes the headaches out of paying bills while forward which can be hard due to the lack of a secure internet connection and phones. Again talk to the individual and have them set it up via their unit S-1, it takes like 2 minutes to do and the funds will be in your account.

If I was not clear, the Commanding Officer should be the last resort for any issues.

[therealpattman]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

She has no interest in setting anything up to pay anything. No one else in her household works and they are all poised to move with her wherever she goes. She is not willing to even show me any part of her orders to even give me a clue as to how permanent she will be or for how long. Then we found out a few other things about other debts, etc. so it's not worth going into anymore but from this conversation I have learned that waiver is not technically possible, that she cannot in essence contract away her rights provided by law in this regard (although other members of the military have told me that they have done so). Good to know. Thanks for all of the advice everyone.

This is just bad business, I should have read deeper into the conversation first, my apologies. I personally would not deal with anyone claiming to be military who refuses to disclose their intent. All service members should disclose their orders to any landlord in case they have to break a lease due to things such as deployments. This person is trying to play you for a fool and they know it.

[LovelySummer]

There were numerous other "issues" that revealed themselves as we delved deeper so it's not an issue anymore in any case. She did not meet the requirements (we later found out). However, be clear that the issue was not status as service person, issue was getting paid. The government should really finish off that act and say that they will step in and finish off the lease or at least give a few months rent to allow the homeowner to continue on until someone else is found. Having an act that just says the service person can get out of the lease immediately if deployed or even simply transferred to another station in another state is half-baked. The rest of the meat that needs to be in the Act seems to be missing.

Originally Posted by roxyrn

I understand that as a landlord, you do not want to risk having your property vacant for a few months.
But, it doesn't seem right that you don't want to rent to someone just because they may get orders to leave to fight for his/her/our country.