Before reading these tips, understand you cannot discriminate against any type of tenants. Here are some things I do….
– Don’t rent to students
– Rent only to single people or families. Maybe a committed couple.
– Rent only to people who have steady jobs. Part time work is not steady.
– No roomates at all.
– Any new tenants in the home not on the lease is an instant default. Time to evict.
I have had plenty of tenants with problems on their credit report. Even a few who had their home foreclosed on or short sold. More important is verification of their income and cash flow. I verify that the income they claim on the rental application can be traced to deposits in their checking account and that liabilities on the application match large withdrawals out of the checking account. I ask them to explain discrepencies.
While checking on previous rental history is important, never deem it to be reliable.
Low income areas are not a problem unless you as the landlord lack the will to strictly enforce the lease. This was the original posters (friends) problem.
