[stars99]

Originally Posted by annerk

My sister was able to find a rental with two 125 pound dogs. It was a gorgeous house, and they didn't want to accept pets. Until my sister offered a $10K pet deposit plus first and last months rent before move in. She got her deposit back in its entirety when she moved out, by the way. Money does talk.

That's a serious deposit! Wasn't she worried about the LL playing games with it?

[annerk]

Originally Posted by OrlandoRE_Miracle

That's a serious deposit! Wasn't she worried about the LL playing games with it?

No, it went into an escrow account at the bank that required both of their signatures to remove it. She also got the tiny bit of interest earned.

[floridasandy]

good for your sister to find a way to keep her dogs with her family. (although i bet not that many renters can come up with a 10k pet deposit). i am seeing a lot of cases where people are just abandoning their pets, but there are a lot of rental units that do allow pets. the animals seem to be getting shortchanged during this recession.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by floridasandy

good for your sister to find a way to keep her dogs with her family. (although i bet not that many renters can come up with a 10k pet deposit). i am seeing a lot of cases where people are just abandoning their pets, but there are a lot of rental units that do allow pets. the animals seem to be getting shortchanged during this recession.

They had sold their house and my brother-in-law was relocated for a year, but knew they would be sent elsewhere at the end of that time. So they were in a good position with cash in the bank. It didn't make sense to buy a home when they knew they would be moving again a year later. No one wanted to rent to them because of the dogs except in crappy apartments and run down homes. So they told the real estate agent that they would make this huge deposit offer, and suddenly quite a few homes became available. Like I said, money talks.

I forgot to mention, they also agreed to pay to get the carpets professionally cleaned on move out, which was like $250 or so. No biggie.

[newbeginnings2k4]

First for all you closed minded people, just because you have had a bad experience with one person doesn't mean that they are all bad. I am so sick and tired of people who say that they won't rent to people with section 8 or on welfare, well here is the fact no matter what you always get paid. You can rent to someone with a job and they lose the job then what, they cant pay you now can they. In my experience its not about what their income is but the kind of person they are. If they are nasty then they will keep your house as such and they can be working or not. The botom line is stop passing judgment on all because you had a bad experience with one. Not every body who is on welfare is a crook, lazy, nasty or a bum, there are different situations and reasons why some are on welfare and I speak from experience. A few years ago I myself had to go on welfare (because my company went out of business) I went back to school and got my degree and work and now own my own, but never not once did I tear up a house or steal or whatever, all I am saying is stop passing judgment on all because of a bad experience with one. Thats like esaying all black people are thieves and cant be trusted or all white people are racist an we know all of that not to be true, just the facts. Next time you are renting pay close attention to the small details like if they come see the apartment and they are dirty or the kids are uncontrollable, call the previous landlords, if they are still residing at the previous address ask to go see it. If their car is full of junk. Stop ignoring some of the things that are right in your face.

[annerk]

The current landlord will give a glowing reference if they are crappy tenants just to get rid of them. You need to call the two landlords prior to get the real picture.

I'm not going to say I'd never rent to someone on Welfare, but I'd be very, very careful and my guess is that well over 95% of welfare recipients wouldn't pass the credit check that I'd require.

[stars99]

To me, it's more whether you, as an landlord, want to jump through all the Section 8 hoops or not--it has nothing to do with judging the tenant for being on welfare.

[stars99]

Originally Posted by annerk

I'm not going to say I'd never rent to someone on Welfare, but I'd be very, very careful and my guess is that well over 95% of welfare recipients wouldn't pass the credit check that I'd require.

If you're going to rent to low income tenants, I think you have to loosen your standards on the credit. Especially these days since so many people have ruined their credit through foreclosure and are now looking to rent.
I think criminal background, employment, references (prior to current landlord), are the most important thing.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by OrlandoRE_Miracle

If you're going to rent to low income tenants, I think you have to loosen your standards on the credit. Especially these days since so many people have ruined their credit through foreclosure and are now looking to rent.
I think criminal background, employment, references (prior to current landlord), are the most important thing.

My point is, I wouldn't rent to anyone who couldn't pass all of the above, including credit. I'd rather let the place sit empty than allow someone with a history of not paying bills and a very limited income to move in.

[stars99]

Originally Posted by annerk

My point is, I wouldn't rent to anyone who couldn't pass all of the above, including credit. I'd rather let the place sit empty than allow someone with a history of not paying bills and a very limited income to move in.

I agree that you should still pull the report. I just think you have to go on a case by case basis, not a hard rule about having a fico score above a certain number (if that's what you meant).