First time DIY Property Management

[spdrun]

One of the best tenants I’ve had was a freelancer. We talked about what he did, I was convinced that he actually knew what he was doing, and we signed a month-to-month lease on trial basis after calling his references.

No employment verification requested, and I think I did the guy (as well as myself) a favor by being flexible.

Didn’t do a background check either. I feel that anyone who’s paid their debt to society shouldn’t be under disability for life. I did Google his name to see if anything particularly heinous came up though.

BTW – the hole in your idea of large firms doing background checks, is what if something happened AFTER s/he was hired?

[spdrun]

If they need to move in ASAP, other option is to take cash. Nothing wrong with that assuming it’s signed for properly by both parties to avoid disputes later.

[Coronita]

[quote=spdrun]One of the best tenants I’ve had was a freelancer. We talked about what he did, I was convinced that he actually knew what he was doing, and we signed a month-to-month lease on trial basis.

No employment verification requested, and I think I did the guy (as well as myself) a favor by being flexible.

Didn’t do a background check either. I feel that anyone who’s paid their debt to society shouldn’t be under disability for life.

BTW – the hole in your idea of large firms doing background checks, is what if something happened AFTER s/he was hired?[/quote]

Well if they, for example, get arrested for something bad, they wouldn’t be employed anymore either. And in my cases, if my tenants do something bad, I think that probably would ruin their chances of getting a green card. It’s not that I wouldn’t consider freelancers. It just happens in my submarkets, my applicants tend to be tech workers at a big company, so it makes my life a lot easier.

[spdrun]

Well if they, for example, get arrested for something bad, they wouldn’t be employed anymore either.

I hope you do mean “convicted.” Any employer who would fire someone based on arrest (i.e. some idiot cop’s suspicion, not proven in court) deserves to be sued out of existence.

Can’t speak to CA, but I think in many states (incl NY), arrest records are confidential and closed in case of acquittal or dropping of charges. As it should be. Unless it was high-profile enough to make the media, of course, which most arrests are not.

But, in any case, is there any law requiring police to inform employers if someone has been arrested? I think not — that would be a violation of privacy. Assuming someone doesn’t spend more than a night in jail, how would anyone be the wiser?

[joec]

[quote=flu][quote=TeCKis300]Any recommendations on resources to do credit checks?[/quote]

This one is easy… Experian Connect.

http://www.experian.com/connect/

Basically, you sign up for a free account. From your Experian account, you send an email requesting the tenant prospect to register and sign up and to “share” his/their credit file with you. They pay $20 or so, and then they can share the credit file with you through Experian. Experian sends you an email, you log in and view their credit file. They don’t see your SSN, and you don’t see their SSN. I use this for all my tenants. I don’t accept “hand copies” of credit files they email or fax me (because they can be doctored).

As far as employment verification, I just get them to send me the phone number for to their HR department, and have them sign a consent for employment verification screening. Then I contact the HR dept for employment verification WITH income verification. If it costs money, I tell them to pay for it.

I don’t do normally do background checks if the employees work at reputable company. I assume the reputable company already did a background check prior to hiring them.

If you need a property manager, I can recommend one in South County. He probably does north county too… PM me.[/quote]

Thanks for sharing this…doubt I will need this anytime soon, but looks like a good way…

I suppose you don’t rent to people who work at very small companies (which can be faked like fake referrals)…

[Hatfield]

[quote=TeCKis300]Any recommendations on resources to do credit checks?[/quote]

http://simplescreening.com

[Coronita]

[quote=joec][quote=flu][quote=TeCKis300]Any recommendations on resources to do credit checks?[/quote]

This one is easy… Experian Connect.

http://www.experian.com/connect/

Basically, you sign up for a free account. From your Experian account, you send an email requesting the tenant prospect to register and sign up and to “share” his/their credit file with you. They pay $20 or so, and then they can share the credit file with you through Experian. Experian sends you an email, you log in and view their credit file. They don’t see your SSN, and you don’t see their SSN. I use this for all my tenants. I don’t accept “hand copies” of credit files they email or fax me (because they can be doctored).

As far as employment verification, I just get them to send me the phone number for to their HR department, and have them sign a consent for employment verification screening. Then I contact the HR dept for employment verification WITH income verification. If it costs money, I tell them to pay for it.

I don’t do normally do background checks if the employees work at reputable company. I assume the reputable company already did a background check prior to hiring them.

If you need a property manager, I can recommend one in South County. He probably does north county too… PM me.[/quote]

Thanks for sharing this…doubt I will need this anytime soon, but looks like a good way…

I suppose you don’t rent to people who work at very small companies (which can be faked like fake referrals)…[/quote]

Actually, I am currently. Size of company doesn’t really matter, it’s just a matter of how quickly can someone prove the make X and have credit score Y, and if necessary, prove the don’t have criminal record Z. I turn a lot of people away who have credit scores lower than threshold (my low bar in a high demand area is 720) .

Legally, you can’t stay a preference for tenants of a particular source of income,nor should you because you can eliminate a lot of good tenants. But the requirement is can you prove you make X to afford the rent, can you prove your credit is good, and can you prove you aren’t a criminal? Proof of income can be with different ways…employment verification, tax returns, 3-4 months of pay stubs, cash in bank account, etc,etc,etc.

[gzz]

Your low bar is 720?

Mine sometimes goes to 710 or so despite nothing negative on my report and 10+ years of regular student loan payments, solely because I churn frequent flier and cash bonus credit cards every 9 months or so.

I think you really just need the report, which the tenant can get for free and email to you. Check the “negative” section to see if there are any real problems.

People who have no loans and never got a credit card often have low credit scores.

[Coronita]

[quote=gzz]Your low bar is 720?

Mine sometimes goes to 710 or so despite nothing negative on my report and 10+ years of regular student loan payments, solely because I churn frequent flier and cash bonus credit cards every 9 months or so.

I think you really just need the report, which the tenant can get for free and email to you. Check the “negative” section to see if there are any real problems.

People who have no loans and never got a credit card often have low credit scores.[/quote]

Well, it’s more of a rule of thumb, it’s not totally fixed at 720. But I don’t accpet emailed copies of a credit file. I’ve had situations in which applicants intentionally tried to doctor an emailed copy.

[TeCKis300]

This forum rocks. Thanks again guys.

My offer was accepted and escrow is open. I should have my first tenant before the end of next month.

[Author]

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