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Thank you all for your opinions. It does make sense to check more on the details of the contract breaching. I called the former landlord after I read your suggestions. Besides the suddenness of the notice, the previous landlord didn't have bad things to say about her. So I'll probably approve her application.
Thank you all for your opinions. It does make sense to check more on the details of the contract breaching. I called the former landlord after I read your suggestions. Besides the suddenness of the notice, the previous landlord didn't have bad things to say about her. So I'll probably approve her application.
I don't think you asked the right questions of the prior landlord. Did she follow the lease requirements (payment, notice, etc.) when she broke the lease? Did she leave the place in good repair? Did she make it convenient for the landlord to show the place to potential new tenants?
I'm also betting that you shouldn't be a landlord. (don't take it personally - neither should I.)
The red flag to me is that she is moving into the area with no savings and what has to be a very new job, if she even has a job.
I do not accept relatives as landlord references and her prior landlord tells you she broke her lease.
I probably wouldn't take her, but for a different applicant with fewer problems, it would depend upon what her landlord said about her; whether she gave proper notice, paid any lease break fees, the condition of the rental when she left, and whether or not rent was always on time before she lost her job.
I'd want to see what else is on her credit report. How was she paying before she lost her job?
Very important to double check that you are speaking to the actual real landlord and not one of her buddies pretending to be her landlord. Myself, I would also call the prior job where she got fired and talk to them. Laid off because there was no work is one thing. Fired for cause is something else entirely.
Especially for someone new to the area with a brand new job, I want to know that they are a good reliable worker so they aren't getting fired the week after they move into my rental.
It also depends big time on whether or not I can get a better tenant. I definitely can get a better tenant, but some landlords in some areas can not and that one would be the best applicant to come along.
Very important to double check that you are speaking to the actual real landlord and not one of her buddies pretending to be her landlord. Myself, I would also call the prior job where she got fired and talk to them. Laid off because there was no work is one thing. Fired for cause is something else entirely.
Especially for someone new to the area with a brand new job, I want to know that they are a good reliable worker so they aren't getting fired the week after they move into my rental.
It also depends big time on whether or not I can get a better tenant. I definitely can get a better tenant, but some landlords in some areas can not and that one would be the best applicant to come along.
Doesn't appear the LL was forthcoming with details. Any 3-day notices? Did she leave owing rent/damages? If tenant is agreeable can you see the previous lease? For my business, relocating tenants outside of my county don't work because I do face-to-face interviews with previous LLs. My absolutely worst tenant takes anLL reference, so lesson learned.
To me it would depend on the why and how.
If she lost her job, was truthful, gave notice etc I wouldn't see it as a red flag as much as if she just walked away in the middle of the night no notice
I let two of my tenants out of leases. One got married and was moving out of state and another was moving back home cause she lost her job. Sometimes **** happens and you gotta roll with it
I screen my prospective tenants thoroughly and require good credit score. I made my requirements clear to them (criminal back ground check, rental and employment history verification etc). This naturally turned away a lot of candidates. I was lucky that my last tenants had zero late payment in the past five years and kept my property in pristine condition. They are moving out because they bought a property in the same neighborhood.
This new prospective tenant has a very good credit score, zero late payment on her credit report for the past 12 years, including the time she was let go from her last job. Someone suggested that I contact the employer and find out her cause of termination. It's impossible because big employers don't give out information like that due to a variety of concerns. Only basic information will be given such as position title, employment duration, etc. She held a managerial position at that company but I don't know anything about the circumstances of the termination.
She's currently employed at another reputable company. I verified her income. It's quite a bit lower than her previous job and is just over 3 x monthly rent. This concerns me somewhat because she doesn't have a lot of cushion income wise.
She's one of the candidates who showed up on time to view the property, confirmed the appointment before arrival, and overall behaved professionally. So I was a little surprised when the rental screening service delivered her previous landlord's comment. This is not the relative she currently stays with, whom I didn't bother to contact for obvious reasons.
I contacted the landlord myself after doing a bit research. I'm pretty sure she's the real landlord not someone impersonating. She said the prospective tenant had paid her rent on time until the lease breaking and kept her property in good condition. But the lease breaking was sudden. The tenant informed her she lost her job and moved out quietly one or two days later. Her rent had been current up to that point and she forfeited her security deposit. The landlord was not happy about the manner she moved out because the tenant didn't feel she should be responsible for the rent as she lost her job and one day later, lights out.
If I rent my property to her, I'll request a security deposit equivalent to 2 months of rent (state allowed maximum) and the first and last month rent payment upfront based on her nagative rental history. She may not be able to take out this much money as my rent isn't low. Then I'll probably have to deny her application.
Last edited by newnewsmama; 03-15-2017 at 06:25 AM..
The potential renter has a credit score in the low 700s. She has adequate income for the rent but not with a substantial cushion. I'm generally satisfied with her screening result except her last landlord in another state told me she broke her one year contract after she lost her job. She stayed at that landlord's property for six months and has since been staying with her relative in my state for the past four months.
She told me she relocated because she wanted to stay closer to her family.
Is this history of contract breaching a big red flag?
Was she not evicted?
Either way losing a job is no excuse, go work for McDonald's or Walmart they are always hiring.
Plus she lied to you, she moved back because she lost her job and couldn't pay rent, it's a huge red flag find someone else.
Either way losing a job is no excuse, go work for McDonald's or Walmart they are always hiring.
Plus she lied to you, she moved back because she lost her job and couldn't pay rent, it's a huge red flag find someone else.
Of course she wasn't evicted. You can't be evicted without your consent. By that, I mean you invariably have the opportunity to turn the unit back to the landlord before the landlord has to ask a judge to make the sheriff do it. She told the landlord she couldn't pay and was leaving.
You are completely correct in that she reneged on a contractual obligation, but ask any landlord that's secured a judgement against a tenant, what they typically collect from said judgement.
She didn't lie. She seems to be honest as the day is long. And makes adequate income for the rent. And hasn't paid a bill late in over a decade.
At some point, OP is looking for a unicorn. Maybe she can find a better tenant, but if she's on here asking about it, I would guess that this is the best she's come across yet.
A broken lease is 1,000 times less troubling than a prior eviction. Things happen, people have to break leases sometimes. I'd ensure this person broke the lease properly (paid all fees, gave proper notice etc...). If they did this then I'd not have a problem. Eviction shows a much different story.
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