Renting from a private Landlord (apartment, lease, evictions, renter)
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My younger brother is getting ready to rent his first apartment and he wants to go through with a private renter because he doesn't have the "on-paper" income to meet an managed companies income requirements. He doesn't sell drugs or anything; just does a lot of under the table work.
Anyway, I'm leery of this because I've heard horror stories about people paying rent just to find out the person either didn't have the right to rent out the apartment (in this case a duplex)...what steps should you take when renting from a private renter?
Can you ask for copies of their driver's license when you sign the lease?
The only thing that I have had people ask me is to prove the house is up to date on the note. At first I thought it was kind of strange but I see their point so why not
At the large complexes that I rent from I have never had to PROVE my income and they don't check, it's honor system. If he is honest about his finances I don't think he'll have an issue if he has good credit. I think you are right to be concerned about the possibility of him getting scammed. If he does rent from a private landlord he should check the public records, first to make sure that the person he is dealing with is actually authorized to issue a lease and also to make sure that no foreclosure proceedings are in progress.
Check out your county courthouse's website. You might be able to look up property information there, and if not, you can go to the courthouse and use their databases or ask someone to look it up for you. Essentially, you plug in an address, and it spits out a ton of data about the property, including the owner's name and address.
While you're at it, check to see if the landlord has any sort of criminal record or frequent dealings with the law. As with the property information, your courthouse will have databases you can pull up. If you see a lot of unlawful detainers (evictions), small claims suits, civil suits, harassment suits, restraining orders, that's a bad, bad sign.
I rent from a private owner, and prefer it. Because they don't have the overhead of paying a property management company, the rents are lower. All they require is proof of income, and his credit check consists of just making sure that you pay rent on time. After two years, he hasn't raised my rent yet.
You can show bank statements with deposits and tax returns.
But if you are evading taxes and not putting money in the banking system, then you are breaking the law...but at least if you can show evidence that you have money in a bank, and that money is flowing in/out, that in many ways is some sort of proof of income.
I understand that he is concerned about getting scammed. But isn't under-the-table work also a scam?
So he's looking for an honest landlord, but he is not honest in his work and taxpaying.
(Unless you mean "self-employed" rather than "under-the-table.")
No he's in college so a large chunk of his income comes from cutting hair and tutoring and little odd jobs he does for people here and there but it's never really consistent and even if he tried I'm not sure how he would claim that on his taxes. He's not a licensed barber or anything; some of the guys in his dorm just stop by his room and he cuts their hair for $7 The public records thing is a good idea. I'll make sure we look into. Thanks for the suggestion.
No he's in college so a large chunk of his income comes from cutting hair and tutoring and little odd jobs he does for people here and there but it's never really consistent and even if he tried I'm not sure how he would claim that on his taxes. He's not a licensed barber or anything; some of the guys in his dorm just stop by his room and he cuts their hair for $7 The public records thing is a good idea. I'll make sure we look into. Thanks for the suggestion.
He should keep write down what he makes. Then he should file Schedule C. Tell him that the instructions are all in the 1040 tax book. If he's making enough from these jobs that he can afford to rent his own place, he definitely should be paying taxes. Maybe he just has never thought of it before.
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The public records thing is a good idea. I'll make sure we look into. Thanks for the suggestion.
