Safest way to ask for security deposit?

[ucodegen]

[quote=plm]No credit check, there was some issue where it couldn’t be done. But did verify employment.[/quote]

Umm. something screwy with “it couldn’t be done”. I know with me that the apartment complex had a problem with my credit background because I rarely use it so there was no credit history, but I was able to prove cash assets in excess of half a years of rent which cleared everything up. I think potential renter(s) situation is different..

I also second ‘flu’s statement above. Don’t get lost in being compassionate, particularly in California or any state that has strong renters rights laws.

[quote=flu]They pay for it, they keep the record, and they can’t complain about giving you their SSN because the way it works, [/quote]I was wondering if the potential tenants were committing ID theft as part of a ‘lifestyle’.

[ucodegen]

[quote=plm]Yes, totally agree with you Flu. I’m way too trusting and have too much compassion to treat the rental as a business. If it gets to be a problem, I will hire a property manager.

I’m not that trusting though. I will get the cash before I give them the keys.[/quote]
It is best to do this (property manager) before the whole thing starts, not to try to do it in the middle or end after the pooch has been screwed.

[no_such_reality]

Danger! Danger! Danger! Goes my instinct on ‘credit check couldn’t be done’ JIMHO

Before I figured it’s just a standard not financially together situation, probably 95% that, 5% chance pro grifter

That last piece though sets my sleaseball meter off. I now feel like a 50/50 you’re dealing with a pro squatter

Did they had some really good story about why they needed the keys right away and you just got lucky on not giving them the keys?

[Coronita]

[quote=plm]Yes, totally agree with you Flu. I’m way too trusting and have too much compassion to treat the rental as a business. If it gets to be a problem, I will hire a property manager.

I’m not that trusting though. I will get the cash before I give them the keys.[/quote]

Sending you a PM.

[Coronita]

[quote=no_such_reality]Danger! Danger! Danger! Goes my instinct on ‘credit check couldn’t be done’ JIMHO

Before I figured it’s just a standard not financially together situation, probably 95% that, 5% chance pro grifter

That last piece though sets my sleaseball meter off. I now feel like a 50/50 you’re dealing with a pro squatter

Did they had some really good story about why they needed the keys right away and you just got lucky on not giving them the keys?[/quote]

There is no fvcking way a check CANT be done. Even IF the person has a credit freeze on his account. The Experian Rental Check does NOT require an unlocked credit file. It is initiated BY THE PERSON, and you never see his/her SSN, only the credit report content. It’s completely hosted by Experian. That makes it a safe playground for a tenant prospect to share his/her credit file with landlords in a safe way. And it give landlords the assurance of authenticity (no doctored copy by the tenant, as again, it’s hosted by Experian)…

Plus, as an added bonus, the fee for this report is directly paid by the tenant prospect. If for whatever reason, the two of you don’t agree to a lease, he can reuse the same credit file he already paid for and share it securely with the next landord… so he doesn’t need to keep paying that $19-30 application fee for pulling a credit file….That’s what I tell all tenant prospects. That way I don’t need to deal with collecting an application fee, and they don’t feel like I’m trying to rip them off with an application fee. IT’s their electronic file they buy and hold onto themselves.

[Coronita]

[quote=plm]Yes, totally agree with you Flu. I’m way too trusting and have too much compassion to treat the rental as a business. If it gets to be a problem, I will hire a property manager.

I’m not that trusting though. I will get the cash before I give them the keys.[/quote]

Cash is nothing. If they really are a “pro” they’ll get the cash for the deposit and the first month rent as simple as getting a cash advance on a credit card (maybe not even theirs)….You don’t know.

In fact, cash ior the first month+deposit is often a ploy. It’s easy to come up with cash for deposit+first month, and it gives many people a false sense of security the person has money, when in reality they dont.

It’s not sufficient to even go the cash route on the deposit+first month rent…ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVENT EVEN SEEN THEIR CREDIT FILE…..
If you’re going to go down the “cash” route, you’ll want to see bank statements showing they can afford the rent for the next N months at minimum.
Also, paystubs are sufficient… Are there judgements/liens attached to their paychecks? You don’t know, because you haven’t seen their credit file!

No bank statements, no credit file, no lease.

[no_such_reality]

I agree with flu. You don’t want cash, you want verification from a bureau that they consistently pay their bills

I’ve used smartmove for my tenants which includes the background check. Something that’s increasingly important. Flu does the experian one include background checks?

[Coronita]

[quote=flu][quote=plm]Yes, totally agree with you Flu. I’m way too trusting and have too much compassion to treat the rental as a business. If it gets to be a problem, I will hire a property manager.

I’m not that trusting though. I will get the cash before I give them the keys.[/quote]

Cash is nothing. If they really are a “pro” they’ll get the cash for the deposit and the first month rent as simple as getting a cash advance on a credit card (maybe not even theirs)….You don’t know.

In fact, cash ior the first month+deposit is often a ploy. It’s easy to come up with cash for deposit+first month, and it gives many people a false sense of security the person has money, when in reality they dont.

It’s not sufficient to even go the cash route on the deposit+first month rent…ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVENT EVEN SEEN THEIR CREDIT FILE…..
If you’re going to go down the “cash” route, you’ll want to see bank statements showing they can afford the rent for the next N months at minimum.
Also, paystubs are sufficient… Are there judgements/liens attached to their paychecks? You don’t know, because you haven’t seen their credit file!

No bank statements, no credit file, no lease.[/quote]

I meant paystubs ARENT sufficient…

And yes, I sound totally paranoid about this. But hey, Andy Grove once said, only the paranoid survive.

I rather you come back here and tell me you were totally paranoid FLU, and didn’t need to be…..

..then you to come back here and say, damn I’m screwed and I wish I pulled their credit file first….

[Coronita]

[quote=no_such_reality]I agree with flu. You don’t want cash, you want verification from a bureau that they consistently pay their bills

I’ve used smartmove for my tenants which includes the background check. Something that’s increasingly important. Flu does the experian one include background checks?[/quote]

No. Experian Tenant Check doesn’t do a background/criminal check. I’ve been lucky that the first tenants that made my credit score requirements, by stroke of luck , were also tech workers at large companies that were hired recently and looking to relocate into San Diego. So I piggybacked on the fact that prior to them being hired, the big company already did a background check/screening prioroffering them a job. And the other tenant, simply I just let the property manager handle it.

Thanks for sharing about smartmove, I’ll use that when I need to in the future.

[gzz]

Flu said it right, you have to see the credit report. Plenty of people have cash to rent a place, but credit reports full of late payments and charge-offs.

I am less concerned with work history, lots of people in San Diego have income from trust funds, dog walking, ebay power selling, etc. If they have first + last + deposit up front and a clean credit history, that is enough for me.

[Yup]

Hey plm, is this the property that you decided to rent out temporarily for a few years prior to selling? (I just re-read your post last Sept.)

If so, why wouldn’t you rent only month-to-month, and only to stellar renters (i.e., absolutely no bankruptcies, no evictions, great credit)?

You don’t want to get Professional Renters in there. One *perceived* slight and they can run to the Tenants Legal Rights Center. Then, perhaps anything you do or say going forward could now be construed as “retaliation”. Say they suddenly start paying on time, but are building a room addition/deck/chicken coop, or moving 10 people into the unit, or locking you out and refusing to give you a key, etc. IMO, what rights you thought you had regarding your property do not exist anymore. As long as tenants pay, your lease is basically worthless. They have possession.

Have you ever tried to show a property while using a police preserve-the-peace escort? Or tried to evict someone who was never on the lease but had a restraining order against the person you didn’t know lived there and who is now refusing to pay the rent?

Don’t think this can’t happen to you. And don’t think that a property manager is going to jump into your mess. Instead, you’ll have to pay an attorney to tell you that you are powerless for the life of the lease if the renters pay on time. This is a renter’s rights town.

Unless, of course, your rental is in Texas, in which case, let a thousand flowers bloom!

(Disclaimer: nothing stated above is to be construed as legal advice, and is solely personal and/or the experience of friends and family.)

[plm]

I appreciate all the warnings but I’m thinking maybe not being paid rent on time if they have bad credit.

It’s a family moving in from out of town for new jobs so hopefully there was a background check done. Being a family, I think its less likely they will be some scam artist renter.

Anyhow, I’ll learn to screen tenants better next time but I’ve got to give them a second chance. They are going to be here soon with their furniture with no place to go otherwise. Their kids need a nice place to stay.

As for selling the house, income taxes makes it hard to sell since we lost the tax free window.

[Coronita]

[quote=plm]I appreciate all the warnings but I’m thinking maybe not being paid rent on time if they have bad credit.

It’s a family moving in from out of town for new jobs so hopefully there was a background check done. Being a family, I think its less likely they will be some scam artist renter.

Anyhow, I’ll learn to screen tenants better next time but I’ve got to give them a second chance. They are going to be here soon with their furniture with no place to go otherwise. Their kids need a nice place to stay.

As for selling the house, income taxes makes it hard to sell since we lost the tax free window.[/quote]

And all these things are irrelevant to running a rental business … you aren’t running a charity. You didn’t do anything wrong ..they fked up…why should you compromise…not your problem. You should have at least insisted on a credit report after their check bounced.

good luck… Hope they pay you on time here on out.

[plm]

Looks like they aren’t bringing cash which I asked for.

Is a wire transfer safe? They are very evasive about bringing cash but I noticed now there is a pending wire transfer to my account which looks legit, they said they had a well off Mom so it could be from her. Spoke with the bank and he said if legit, the pending transfer will clear at the end of the day. So I suppose if at the end of the day, if it has cleared, everything should be ok?

I’m getting the feeling I should have listened to everyone on this forum to run away. But if the wire clears, I don’t see how I can avoid renting to them.

[Coronita]

[quote=plm]Looks like they aren’t bringing cash which I asked for.

Is a wire transfer safe? They are very evasive about bringing cash but I noticed now there is a pending wire transfer to my account which looks legit, they said they had a well off Mom so it could be from her. Spoke with the bank and he said if legit, the pending transfer will clear at the end of the day. So I suppose if at the end of the day, if it has cleared, everything should be ok?

I’m getting the feeling I should have listened to everyone on this forum to run away. But if the wire clears, I don’t see how I can avoid renting to them.[/quote]

Why do you ask if something is “safe” or “if there is something fishy about this” AFTER you already do it?

How about asking before? What do you want us to say?

“Everything is going to be fine. There is nothing wrong…”

or do you want us to tell you the worst case scenario: “they might be trying to commit wire fraud like a nigerian wire transfer scam?”….

https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/15218/is-it-safe-to-give-out-ones-bank-account-number

If you really want to stop things: tell your bank to refuse the wire transfer. Put a hold on everything outgoing from the account. Tell the prospective tenant, sorry the wire transfer didn’t go through, and then say…sorry no rent….Move on. And talk to a property manager from here on out.

Better yet.. freeze your bank account, refuse the wire transfer….Tell the tenant you had problems with the wire transfer…And that due to the complexity of performing this lease, you’ve decided to handle leasing this unit to a professional property manager. And that you will get back to them shortly with the contact information with the property manager, who I’m sure will let you you re-apply for the lease, going through the screening that the property manager sees fit…. Then talk to the property manager and let him/her take over from here so you don’t continue to dig yourself into a deeper hole, including doing all the proper background checks/credit checks you should have done but didn’t… If I knew you personally, I would say that to them on your behalf, because apparently it seems like you’re uncomfortable even saying what you really want to do…..

[Author]

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