Safe Ways to Pre-Screen Tenant Applicants

The Safest Way to Pre-Screen Prospective Tenants

How do you make first contact with new tenant prospects? Do you field telephone calls from prospective tenants at your home number? Do you talk to caller after caller only to realize most of them are not what you are looking for? Should these unknown strangers to have your telephone number and waste countless hours of your valuable time? As we become more experienced landlords, we're learning better ways to avoid bad situations and protect ourselves from dangerous people, time wasters and unqualified prospects.



1. FREE LPA Prospect Pre-Screening Card
With HTML Code for your Internet Ad


I recently began using a basic little chart on my internet rental ads that has made quite a difference in setting up appointments. I used to advertise in local newspapers, and spend thousands on rental ads, but websites like Craigslist and The LPA Rentals Available section have been a helpful way to save advertising dollars!

Just imagine receiving e-mails from prospective tenants with the pre-screening information you want before even talking to them. (With Craigslist, the customer doesn't even have to see your real e-mail address or phone number!) Call prospective tenants to set up appointments only if they meet your pre-screening qualifications! It has never been easier. It saves time, advertising money and helps you zero in on the tenant you're looking for...

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I prefer a Landlord Rental Agreement

Landlord Tip:
Beware Tenant's Rental Agreement
(I'm posting this "Landlord Tip" because: I was recently read the riot act by an angry reader, who claimed to be a landlord, but I suspect is really a tenant. "Why would you say such a thing? That implies that landlords have an attitude against tenants and that you are assuming that landlords shouldn't trust a tenant's lease! That is awfully ONE SIDED!")
Well, after many years of experience of dealing with tenants, I must say I prefer good tenants who agree to my lease and agree to follow my rules. You decide.

Some tenants come with their own lease agreement already prepared for you - by their attorney in many cases. Watch out! First of all, I have never had good experiences with tenants who are experts on landlord tenant law. Secondly, it is only logical that the tenant's lease will contain more tenant protection than it will have landlord protection. There is usually a good reason the tenant wants to use his own lease agreement. You can bet there are lots of innocent seeming little clauses in there that wouldn't even raise an eyebrow, but can cost the landlord plenty. Just stick with a landlord lease. - John C., BVR Mgmt

Giving proper legal notice to tenant:

(This applies to month to month tenancies or if your lease allows you to make unilateral changes to the tenancy as the LPA Lease does.)
* It is important to remember that proper notice must also be given by the tenant or the landlord for the Intention of Non - Renewal. Even though the lease has an expiration date, the landlord must still require a written notice to vacate from the tenant.

If it is a 30 or 60 day notice, be sure that the written notice is served before the beginning of the next rent period. That means if the rent is due and payable on the 1st of the month, have the notice served before that date. Serving a notice in the middle of a rent period will not change the fact that the 30 or 60 days notice period starts on the first day of the next rent period. An official dated notice should be delivered / "served" to the tenant,

• in person (preferable)
• sent by certified mail- return receipt requested
• regular first class mail combined with the above. We recommend getting a certificate of mailing receipt from the post office whenever you mail an official notice by 1st class (regular) mail.

John N., NY

Helpful Tenant Screening Steps...

The Landlord Protection Agency® suggests the following steps to take before spending the money on a consumer credit report:

1. Pre-screen your prospects before showing the rental. It eliminates unnecessary appointments and saves you time. Use a free LPA Pre-screening Prospect card.

2. After showing the rental, have your interested prospects fill out and sign an LPA Rental Application. Be sure to collect a non-refundable screening fee and deposit as provided for in the application.

3. Verify the employment and tenant references contained in the application. Use LPA Landlord Reference Qualifier form to evaluate the legitimacy of the landlord reference.

If you feel confident the tenant passed all your screening inquiries so far, run a credit report with a major credit bureau to review the prospect’s credit history on the payment of bills, delinquencies, address history, employment history and judgments.

Remember: "It's better to have no tenant than a bad tenant."

Signing the Lease

LANDLORD SPECIAL REPORT: #4

Signing the Lease Agreement

A quality lease agreement outlines in detail what is expected from tenant who will treat the property with pride and respect.

If possible, the lease should be read and explained to the tenant in person. It is more effective that way. After all, the lease agreement is an instruction manual for how to be your tenant in your rental property.

Before turning over a valuable asset for a mere 1 or 2 month security deposit, make sure the tenants understand and agree to all your terms. You'd be surprised at how many people are so eager to just sign the lease without bothering to read it. You can get a real idea of what these people will be like as tenants by how they respond to the terms in your lease.

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3 Easy Ways to Reject a Tenant Applicant

3 Easy Ways to Reject a Tenant Applicant

Many of us have had difficulty in rejecting interested rental applicants for our properties. Without a system to save you from legal entanglements, wasted time and aggravation, hurt feelings and embarrassment, you are going to be one unhappy and unsuccessful camper.

Having a legal and effective approval and denial system for your rental application process is essential if you are going to last in the landlord business.

Because every situation and applicant is different, it is best to have more than one method of rejecting an unwanted applicant. Unwanted applicants can vary in levels of unacceptability.

• Totally Unacceptable (credit or other reasons)
  
• Unqualified, but can become qualified (co-signer or large deposit needed)
  
• Qualified, but you have someone else more qualified
  

3 Ways to Reject a Tenant Applicant

The LPA Denial Letter

Ever have a hard time turning down applicants because they think it's their right to have your property because they need or want it?
As long as your reasons are legal for not approving their application, (By not breaking any laws regarding discrimination, etc.) you should not feel obligated to accept a tenant you determine is not qualified. For example, your decision to reject an applicant may be based on income, credit, stable employment, etc., while it may not be based on a person's race, sex, religion, etc.

You can protect yourself with a denial letter to inform the applicant that their application was not approved. Check off the appropriate reason(s).

The LPA Denial Letter provides a checklist of 12 reasons to select for the rejection of the applicant. Some of these include:

• Rental price offer not accepted
  
• Income
  
• Unable to verify or insufficient employment
  
• Credit history
  
• Pets
  
• Smoking
  
• Tenant Lied on application
  
• Incomplete application
  
• More…
  

No applicant is happy to be rejected, but the LPA Denial Letter when needed, helps you manage your time more efficiently, rather than being bothered by complaining rejected applicants. It also gives the applicant a courteous, detailed explanation of why he was declined.

Adverse Action Letter

If you reject an applicant because of negative information on his credit report, an Adverse Action Letter is needed to comply with FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) regulations.

The Adverse Action Letter includes the contact information for the consumer credit reporting agencies that played a role in the decision of rejecting the applicant based on the contents of his or her credit report. This form is included in the download of the LPA Denial Letter.

The Non-Rejection Rejection

One of the methods of not accepting a tenant I also consider is simply not rejecting them. From the outset, I feel it is important to make the applicant understand that there are other applicants also being considered and that we (management) will make our decision based on the best qualified application.

Isn’t it much easier for a person to accept that they are “still being considered”, even if it is not for this particular rental for which we’ve already found someone else “more qualified”?

Tenant Leaving? Save Yourself Some Time & Effort

The tenant wants to leave?

When a tenant wants to terminate a tenancy, it is done in one of two ways. Either:

in accordance with the lease agreement, or

in violation of the lease agreement.

If your tenant wishes to vacate tenancy properly, it usually means giving you, the landlord written Notice to Vacate in a timeframe outlined by your lease agreement. Normally this allows the landlord enough time to prepare and find a new tenant for re-rental.

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How to Find and Choose a Good Eviction Attorney

by John Nuzzolese, The Landlord Protection Agency

Can you imagine a roofer banging in the nails in your new roof with a pipe instead of a hammer? How ridiculous! With that in mind, do you know how many landlords get legal advice on landlord tenant matters from unqualified family members and acquaintances?

Some landlords even ask their other tenants or their unqualified brother in law for advice. The sad fact is most landlords DO NOT even have an eviction attorney to turn to when tenant problems arise.

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