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I think the bottom line is that people should do what makes them feel comfortable. If people don't want to give personal information out as a renter (I think especially if someone is only a prospective landlord) then they shouldn't. I wouldn't, and I know that there are certain places I wouldn't consider because of it. I'm fine with that. I'm a dream tenant, but if someone doesn't want to rent from me because I don't want to give them all my personal financial information up front, whatever. Life goes on.
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
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Yes Jill, I'm sure that you and the fellow who posted earlier are excellent tenants. And you deserve good landlords, however for every good tenant there are 50 who are marginal and 15 who are downright bad news. This is why landlords tend to say there are no good tenants. That is obviously not true or right to blanket everyone together.
However I must say that I have never, ever had one single tenant ever leave a property cleaned to the standards it was when they moved in. Not one in any price range. I even give tenants a 4 page cleaning checklist before move out - and I'm talking good tenants - and it is always ignored. And that's why they get a $600 cleaning bill and why tenants hate landlords.
The only way a landlord has to protect themselves and their investment is to get full information.
You will love this - I also require copies of your ID and in some cases tax returns.
We are currently both tenants & landlords so I definitely see this from both sides.
We are renting out our principal residence and are currently renting a furnished 1 bedroom loft for 6 months while we wait for the lease on our house to be up.
For the record I find rental applications unbelievably invasive, HOWEVER most of the information is necessary.
Social security numbers are needed for the credit check.
Proof of funds is a 100% reasonable requirement. We provided a summary of our accounts with name printed on it and whited out the last few digits of the account numbers.
Our landlord wanted our tax returns. I said no to this.
He also wanted copies of our credit card statements. We met with him and I showed him our statements showing a 0 balance for the past 6 months, but I didn't leave the statements with him.
We provided proof of employment and annual salary, but we did not provide him with the pay stubs he was looking for.
I apologized in advance to our tenants about the invasiveness of the rental application. Like us they were used to owning their own homes and it can be a shock giving out all that personal information to a landlord. I told them what parts of the application they could leave blank (like a breakdown of how they spend their monthly income = none of my business) and which parts were necessary (proof of funds, proof of income, credit report, information on past rental history).
Our landlord was understanding about us not giving him our tax returns and it all worked out. We pay be check so the landlord has one of our account numbers.
Our tenant pays us in a direct deposit so they also have an account number of ours. We also have theirs.
With regards to a large deposit - I have no problem with that. Our tenants paid a 1.5 month security deposit as well as the first 2 months rent and the last month's rent.
We paid 1.5 months rent security and first & last month's rent. I don't think this is unreasonable at all although it is a chunk of change. If we couldn't afford it we would have rented somewhere cheaper.
I do this walking past someone's work to make sure they are there is excessive. We got our tenant's letter of employment, salary and starting bonus information and that was enough.
They've been in our home 6 months so far and pay in advance of the 1st every month. The house is immaculate. My fingers are crossed that the next 6 months are as good as the first.
You will love this - I also require copies of your ID and in some cases tax returns.
Good Lord!!!
I'm so happy I live in a small community where I'm quite well known and respected. I imagine this will be my final resting place but I would have a really tough time finding somewhere decent to live if I had to move into a new community. All this necessity for providing very personal information seems to me such an incredible violation of privacy ...
Wow! Feel better, WannaliveinGreenville? Good, because I hear Dr. Phil is taking house calls these days. I however got lost in your rant - might have been the "caps" and the "pretty" fonts. For a guy not treating people with "human dignity" I do pretty well. I'll continue to do what works, so spare me your over the top "opinion" and have a really nice day, ma'am.
I feel wonderful thank you. It was your remark that ticked me off. I can always be a lovely tenant but can you be a wonderful Landlord ?
Yes Jill, I'm sure that you and the fellow who posted earlier are excellent tenants. And you deserve good landlords, however for every good tenant there are 50 who are marginal and 15 who are downright bad news. This is why landlords tend to say there are no good tenants. That is obviously not true or right to blanket everyone together.
However I must say that I have never, ever had one single tenant ever leave a property cleaned to the standards it was when they moved in. Not one in any price range. I even give tenants a 4 page cleaning checklist before move out - and I'm talking good tenants - and it is always ignored. And that's why they get a $600 cleaning bill and why tenants hate landlords.
The thing is that I don't disagree with you on this, nor is it news to me. And frankly, even through I am used to getting my deposit back in full, I don't mind a little being taken out for additional cleaning. And I agree that there are many renters that are unreasonable about this, But I fail to see how this as an argument in the context of a discussion about whether or not people should give our personal financial information if they don't feel comfortable with it. There are several good reasons why renters could be wary of it all of which have been discussed in this thread. That some of the things that people are concerned about are illegal actions makes no difference- they can still happen and may even never be correctly resolved- even if they are, they are still a pain in the tush to deal with.
The business of renting property has a lot of potential risk associated with it. As a renter, I pay my part in mitigating that risk by what I pay in rent, set by whomever I rent from, which I am fine with because it is something I get to choose. However, I have no desire nor obligation to take on additional risk associated with renting just because other people are crappy renters. It is well known that there are unscrupulous landlords and property managers out there who try to pass on the financial burden of renting on to their tenants, for instance by trying to charge them the full cost of replacing an old carpet, which we've talked about. Or passing on the cost of pre-existing damage to a tenant that was naive and didn't document it on the walk-through. Or even "losing" the walk through. These are all things that come up regularly. We live in a world where many landlords try to charge people for things they know they can't because they also know many people don't know their rights.
If you feel you need certain information from your prospective tenants to protect your own investment I see no problem with that. I wouldn't rent from someone who asked for as much information as you do, but I am sure there are still plenty of people who would, and I think you're perfectly within your right to ask for it if you feel you need it. But what I don't understand is why you seem so against the idea that people shouldn't give out that information they don't feel comfortable giving out. As a landlord you are providing a service to a consumer. To try to argue with your consumers if you don't meet their particular needs seems silly to me. Especially in renting, people should be giving their money to someone they feel comfortable with, whatever that means.
It was your choice to get into the rental business. As a renter, it isn't necessarily my job to accommodate the wishes of a prospective landlord if I'm not comfortable with the terms. It is my money, I'm going to look spend it in a situation that makes me feel confident. Why the heck shouldn't I? In the rental market, I have no problem finding landlords I am comfortable with. If you won't want to rent to someone like me who doesn't want to give you my entire financial picture because you think it makes me appear "sketchy", or you feel it is too risky, don't. It doesn't bother me at all. So why should it bother you if I view you in the same way? Its nothing personal. It is just how I feel comfortable spending my money,
The thing is that I don't disagree with you on this, nor is it news to me. And frankly, even through I am used to getting my deposit back in full, I don't mind a little being taken out for additional cleaning. And I agree that there are many renters that are unreasonable about this, But I fail to see how this as an argument in the context of a discussion about whether or not people should give our personal financial information if they don't feel comfortable with it. There are several good reasons why renters could be wary of it all of which have been discussed in this thread. That some of the things that people are concerned about are illegal actions makes no difference- they can still happen and may even never be correctly resolved- even if they are, they are still a pain in the tush to deal with.
The business of renting property has a lot of potential risk associated with it. As a renter, I pay my part in mitigating that risk by what I pay in rent, set by whomever I rent from, which I am fine with because it is something I get to choose. However, I have no desire nor obligation to take on additional risk associated with renting just because other people are crappy renters. It is well known that there are unscrupulous landlords and property managers out there who try to pass on the financial burden of renting on to their tenants, for instance by trying to charge them the full cost of replacing an old carpet, which we've talked about. Or passing on the cost of pre-existing damage to a tenant that was naive and didn't document it on the walk-through. Or even "losing" the walk through. These are all things that come up regularly. We live in a world where many landlords try to charge people for things they know they can't because they also know many people don't know their rights.
If you feel you need certain information from your prospective tenants to protect your own investment I see no problem with that. I wouldn't rent from someone who asked for as much information as you do, but I am sure there are still plenty of people who would, and I think you're perfectly within your right to ask for it if you feel you need it. But what I don't understand is why you seem so against the idea that people shouldn't give out that information they don't feel comfortable giving out. As a landlord you are providing a service to a consumer. To try to argue with your consumers if you don't meet their particular needs seems silly to me. Especially in renting, people should be giving their money to someone they feel comfortable with, whatever that means.
It was your choice to get into the rental business. As a renter, it isn't necessarily my job to accommodate the wishes of a prospective landlord if I'm not comfortable with the terms. It is my money, I'm going to look spend it in a situation that makes me feel confident. Why the heck shouldn't I? In the rental market, I have no problem finding landlords I am comfortable with. If you won't want to rent to someone like me who doesn't want to give you my entire financial picture because you think it makes me appear "sketchy", or you feel it is too risky, don't. It doesn't bother me at all. So why should it bother you if I view you in the same way? Its nothing personal. It is just how I feel comfortable spending my money,
Speaking of cleaning : My previous place before this one was not clean at all. The rent was a good price ( so I didn't complain ) so I did what I normally do : I cleaned the place top to bottom, painted the doors ( bedrooms ) because they were scraped, cleaned the carpets, I improved the place and even left my nice washer there ( hinted to LL he could get a lil more rent now that there was a washing machine- ) I was in transition as the time and thought it was just easier to leave it there as an improvement.
Yes, LL's, there are tenants that respect your property, make improvements with your permission and leave the dwelling nicer than when they moved in...
I live in Ohio and recently had this issue. I have never seen a rental application that required that info before and it gave me the willies. Unfortunately I was turned down for the apartment (a very nice one too) but now after seeing this thread I can see both sides of the coin. LLs want to be sure the tennant actually makes what they say and aren't going to screw them over and tenants are uneasy about giving this info other than when paying by check.
LLs want to be sure the tennant actually makes what they say and aren't going to screw them over and tenants are uneasy about giving this info other than when paying by check.
No landlord has never known what I earn for either residential or commercial properties and, frankly, no way would I have even considered them as a LL if they asked for that information. Verification of employment is one thing but some LLs are going way too far poking into highly personal information. If a tenant ends up not being able to keep up with rent for whatever reason there are laws in place to take care of that.
No landlord has never known what I earn for either residential or commercial properties and, frankly, no way would I have even considered them as a LL if they asked for that information. Verification of employment is one thing but some LLs are going way too far poking into highly personal information. If a tenant ends up not being able to keep up with rent for whatever reason there are laws in place to take care of that.
true but I'll tell you this when you get evicted it dings your credit report pretty hard.
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