Paying full lease up front to avoid income requirements? (apartment complex, tenant, evict)

[reciprocal]

I need to be somewhere else, soon. I am on SSDI, so I have a steady but limited income. I've decided on a city with lots of affordable rentals - my rent would probably be somewhere around half my current monthly income. I know that tenants are generally required to make 3x rent, but I also have more than enough cash on hand to pay an entire year's lease up front.

How would a situation like that generally be handled? I'd be happy to pay all or a big part (first 6? first and last 3?) of a 12 month lease at signing, but I worry about an unscrupulous landlord trying to take advantage of that situation.

I'm a very good tenant, and there would not be any legitimate reasons to evict me. But I know that there are some landlords who do Bad Things for money, if they think they can get away with it.

Would it be safer to stick with larger property management companies as opposed to smaller, privately run apartment complexes or individuals who might own a few rental units? Or is there anything to be concerned about at all if I pay my lease up front? I'd gladly take something to small claims if there was a problem, but obviously I'd rather avoid any problems to begin with.

And, in a location where there's no scarcity of apartments, would haggling down the price in exchange for the up-front rent be an accepted or even welcome thing to do?

[manderly6]

I certainly wouldn't go with that option first. Just try and rent a place normally and see what they say.

[Lacerta]

I know this seems like a very strange thing, but there are three scenerios for people who want to pay a full rent term up front.

1. They are people like you, who have substantial savings for whatever legitimate reason, or are retired, and have limited income but money in the bank. They usually are great tenants. We have even, on occasion, given a small discount per month because of the lump sum payment.

2. The other side of the coin is people who have lots of unverifiable income, and lots of money in the bank. Usually this is because they stiffed their last 3 landlords and lived for free, or because they like to sue people, or because they are a drug dealer. They may be no trouble for the time period they live there, but just try getting them to move when their lease is up. It will end in court every time, and you will have a huge repair bill on the unit.

3. One of the number one scams out there is for people to want to pay an entire year up front. They write a check for more than the total due, and ask you to pay the balance on to a 3rd party "they owe money to". Then their check bounces, and you are out the amount you paid on and you have no tenant. You probably also have no appliances, cabinets, etc in the house because you gave out keys.

Unfortunately scenerios 2 and 3 have made landlords wary of anyone offering to pay a year up front. Therefore, I would let the LL be the one to bring it up. I would just explain your situation as you have here.

Now, for the other side of the question. Your money is more likely to be safe going through an established property management company with a good reputation (they exist, I swear). I would ask them to see if they can get the owner to agree to the property manager holding the lump sum and releaseing the money to the owner monthly since so many houses are going to foreclosure these days. A good property manager is likely to know if an owner is in financial distress, and to tell you, whereas an individual owner with financial troubles is likely NOT to tell you and let you move in blind, because they just want the income, while they don't make their payments.

You just don't want to get into the scenerio where you've paid for 12 months, and 3 months in the house gets foreclosed, and since you moved in after the notice of default was filed, the bank doesn't have to honor your lease, and tells you to move out in 30 days, and the ex-owner doesn't have any money for you to sue them for, so you are out 9 months of rent and your deposit. That is worst case scenerio.

[ShaneSA]

Considering you are on SSDI, your income can be easily verified by a LL. Go for a regular payment sceduale with a deposit.
As a LL, I am always suspicious of and refuse anyone who insists on paying rent 6 or 12 months out. It is not a good practise for tenant or LL.

[KonaKat]

Depends on the local LL/tenant law. In Hawaii we cannot demand this; we can accept it someone wants to pay in advance however the catch is, one cannot spend unearned income. This means that every month the rent is charged off to the owner, we take our commision etc. But at any time that tenant can walk in and ask for that 'upfront" amount to be refunded because of what I said in sentence #2. We have people offer this all the time thinking it's a great negotiating tool. Not so. Has no bearing what so ever on their qualifying. legitimate realtors and property managers are careful to treat every person the same every time within the law and their own policies. So, if we require good credit and verifiable income (paystubs, benefit letter, tax return etc) then we have to enforce that policy to each applicant.

I know states differ and sometimes it would be a very useful tool to be able to collect extra deposits or rent in advance for a person with poor credit or difficult to verify income.

I agree with the poster who said basically what I always tell anyone (got this from the Army LOL) "Never answer a question you haven't been asked". apply as usual and see what happens.

[jdm2008]

You should apply as normal and then if you can't find something you want and you get denied offer a larger deposit.

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

My fiancee and I lost a $400/mo rental we were in the middle of signing paperwork for when I lost my variable hours job and she still had her full-time job, even though we were willing to pay the full $4800 for the year up front.

It all depends on the landlord.

[megan_kelly]

I am always pretty suspicious when someone offers to pay a full year's rent up front. People offer it quite often & the only time I have had a client accept such an offer is 2-4 month's rent paid up front in order to offset credit issues...and that is usually in conjunction with a double deposit. I don't really like it, as it would be much more difficult to evict a tenant for non-rent issues if they can show the judge that they have paid so much rent in advance. Judges here seem to feel like the only reason to boot someone is for non-payment of rent.

I would apply as usual but talk to the LL or PM when turning in your application (or attach a cover letter) explaining that, while you may not meet the monthly income requirements, you can provide bank statements, etc. showing substantial liquid assets.

[jamies]

Other than summer rentals of my beach house, which is paid in advance for the 3 month season I don't take advance payments. (Even though I posted that I would tongue-in-cheek on another thread.)

If someone has terrible credit or unverifiable income (and depending on the property and the state) I may require an additional deposit equal to an additional months rent or more. Then I can charge the deposit if necessary.

In many states if you get the "last months rent" in advance you can't take them to court until after that rent is used up - since they aren't "late" because the rent is paid. So the point is moot.

There are extenuating circumstances. Students (or parents) often pay the semester in advance. I had an occasion where money was put into a trust/escrow account and released every month. But that was a headache. I've had tenants leave for months on jobs and pay ahead.

[I just want 2 rent]

I'm one of those people who makes good money! Doing various jobs in entertainment. My monthly income isn't the same. However I have yet to receive less than $3000/ mo for the past year AFTER TAXES. I can easily pay all of the rent upfront so I dont have to worry about anything.


QUESTIONS????
What difference does it make if I want to pay upfront? LL have their money which is the MAIN concern. OR are there other underlying issues?.....I'm confused.

Why do people own apartment complexes???

I would like to stay in a particular city if I have a gig for 3-4 months of filming and want to just lease an apt for the time being. I would prefer to pay upfront. What is a reason I would be denied?


(Example): I work in porn and work for 1 employer one day, 2 the next...and so on. I do acting gigs for TV then do music shows. All of these are different employers do you really want to verify all of that or just take those thousands of dollars upfront and not worry about me going default?

WHO DOES LIKE MONEY UPFRONT? COME ON PEOPLE!