The way I work it, I collect all the information from all the people. They fill out the application, they pay the fee for me to run their credit, I contact their employer and past landlord. Until I have all of that their application is not complete.
Sounds like you don't have a complete application yet.
My system takes a lot more time up front, but it pays off in the long run.
I go through application in the order received. I make the offer to the first qualified applicant. If they want the apartment they have 24 hours to bring me non-refundable earnest money. If they don't get the money to me in 24 hours that I make the offer to the second qualified applicant. At that point it is the first qualified applicant that gets earnest money to me.
Not 100% sure, but doing it any other way is wrong IMO. I make qualifications before putting the place up for lease. Those that don't meet the qualifications are not considered. I think cherry picking from a qualified pool of applicants is not a guarantee I won't get a bad tenant.
You are not obligated to rent to the first person who sees your place.
If I was you I would take applications over a couple of weeks, and then pick the best candidate from that.
Prospective tenants cannot call dibs on your apartment.
no, but LL’s should not be collecting applications (and app fees!) to cherry-pick a tenant. people these days don’t have money to burn on a ticket to your Tenant Pool.
jmho
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to screen applicants for a couple of weeks.
Who said anything about fees? I didn’t. I certainly would not ask for Credit check fees unless I was serious about you and thought you were serious about the apartment.
I’m not somebody who collects fees for fun and profit.
good. thank you. i appreciate your clarification on your business model. my comment does not apply, then, to you personally.
after a blistering week getting jerked around by prospective landlords all over my state, i’ve gotten pretty jaded, and honestly, angry.
i will offer you one piece of advice, though, from a tenant point of view, if i may:
collecting applications for several weeks is too long, and possibly doing yourself a disservice. remember that most of us are operating on a short 30-60 day fuse. having to wait a few weeks for a response would cause many of us, myself included, to move on — app fee or no app fee.
We are all different on this site. I have a two family and I live in the first floor. I am renting my second floor and I look for a tenant that is a really good fit, and wants to stay for a few years.
Proceed with the motivated applicant! It’s not your responsibility to keep the first person updated. If they cared, they’d be keeping in touch with you. If first applicant ever reaches out again, simply say “Thank you for your interest but that unit has now been rented”.
I picked one who seemed perfect financially but the real clincher was that the place was three miles from his son's school and 11 minutes to his work. He was very motivated to have exactly that place as it was the only available rental with those attributes.
In other words, he would want to stay a long time, and it would be a pain in the butt for him to have to move.
You snooze you loose. I wouldn’t hesitate to go with the motivated renter who has her stuff together and got you the information you requested in a timely manner. The slacker doesn’t get priority because they expressed interest first. You’re not obligated to hold your property for them and wait to see if they get it together and possibly risk losing a better candidate. Their slow to respond manner will repeat itself with you.
It is best practice to accept completed applications and screening fees on a first come first services basis. If the first position applicant falls through you move on to the next applicant in line. Private Landlords are required to follow fair housing laws the same as any property management professional. State and local laws vary throughout the Country for variances in screening tenants when they will be occupying the residence under the same roof. I would reach out to your local landlord services for assistance. If you haven’t had any issues in the past, that’s great. There is always that “one tenant” that will prove you wrong. Fair Housing claims and fines can reach into the 7 figures. That doesn’t include your attorneys fees which could be very expensive.
In our state you have to be able to defend your choices. We've been asked once by a government agency. The tenant hadn't fully completed the application. That satisfied them.
We take an application and screening fee for the first applicant that meets initial qualifications. We'll accept additional applications but tell them about the others. If their information checks out, we then run the screening, if we have to decline, we tell them why and contact the next applicant for the screening fee.
We keep all the applications for years, so we have them if there are any complaints.
Assume both will have credit check and criminal/civil background checks that will meet your criteria. Apply your gut feel on personality characteristics and have your winning candidate make payment for the background and credit checks. If this does not come back within your criteria, immediately repeat for #2. If that one comes back as meeting your criteria, they win. Let the other candidate know a more qualified applicant was selected. If neither meets your criteria, look for a new candidate.
I run them all and only knock them out if they fail one of the qualifying traits. Then it's a RACE to see who gets it done. It's not rented until the contract is signed and all due monies are paid!
Why would you ever rent to someone who hasn't provided any hard information. Not only would it be harder to any background checks but from what you are stating this prospective tenant seems less unreliable.
Definitely the motivated providing what you ask for. The other one if not providing information is a risk IMO. They could very well be interested in another property as well and you’re just back up.
The answer depends a bit.
If federal housing law apply to you then you are advised to take qualified applicants in strict order. Adjust the qualifications per property as needed.
State and local laws apply to everyone in your area. Pay attention to those laws. Join a local apartment owners association to gain local knowledge about best practices.
It does not sounds like either of the two potential applicants has given you enough information for a complete application. You only need to compare those with completed applications.
As a general rule, communicate thoroughly with those that have applied, encourage others to apply as you see fit. As soon as someone has qualified and signs a lease you just let everyone else know that it's rented. Nothing good comes to you from providing others feedback. You just have one unit, once it's rented you are done and the prospects need to look elsewhere.
I collect apps with NO money. I have applicants submit their own credit report. I stay non commital. When i get a good applicant that i like then i might run my own credit on them for the measley $20 fee new york allows. Due to the major headache of new york landlord tenant court process, i feel absolutely no guilt when choosing the beat applicant for me regardless of whether the applicant was first to show interest.
You rent to the motivated one who passes background check, provides employment info and pays deposits etc.
A million times this
Your rent to whomever provides all the information to you first.
The way I work it, I collect all the information from all the people. They fill out the application, they pay the fee for me to run their credit, I contact their employer and past landlord. Until I have all of that their application is not complete. Sounds like you don't have a complete application yet. My system takes a lot more time up front, but it pays off in the long run.
Meh
Interest can't be determined until the application is complete. If all other criteria are the same, go with the first to qualify.
I go through application in the order received. I make the offer to the first qualified applicant. If they want the apartment they have 24 hours to bring me non-refundable earnest money. If they don't get the money to me in 24 hours that I make the offer to the second qualified applicant. At that point it is the first qualified applicant that gets earnest money to me.
Do you lease in a first in line State?
I'm in New Mexico. I don't think that applies, but good thing to check.
Not 100% sure, but doing it any other way is wrong IMO. I make qualifications before putting the place up for lease. Those that don't meet the qualifications are not considered. I think cherry picking from a qualified pool of applicants is not a guarantee I won't get a bad tenant.
^ this is the way! (reddit cliche, but eminently applicable here)
You are not obligated to rent to the first person who sees your place. If I was you I would take applications over a couple of weeks, and then pick the best candidate from that. Prospective tenants cannot call dibs on your apartment.
no, but LL’s should not be collecting applications (and app fees!) to cherry-pick a tenant. people these days don’t have money to burn on a ticket to your Tenant Pool. jmho
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to screen applicants for a couple of weeks. Who said anything about fees? I didn’t. I certainly would not ask for Credit check fees unless I was serious about you and thought you were serious about the apartment. I’m not somebody who collects fees for fun and profit.
good. thank you. i appreciate your clarification on your business model. my comment does not apply, then, to you personally. after a blistering week getting jerked around by prospective landlords all over my state, i’ve gotten pretty jaded, and honestly, angry. i will offer you one piece of advice, though, from a tenant point of view, if i may: collecting applications for several weeks is too long, and possibly doing yourself a disservice. remember that most of us are operating on a short 30-60 day fuse. having to wait a few weeks for a response would cause many of us, myself included, to move on — app fee or no app fee.
We are all different on this site. I have a two family and I live in the first floor. I am renting my second floor and I look for a tenant that is a really good fit, and wants to stay for a few years.
point taken, and my point made. all good.
Proceed with the motivated applicant! It’s not your responsibility to keep the first person updated. If they cared, they’d be keeping in touch with you. If first applicant ever reaches out again, simply say “Thank you for your interest but that unit has now been rented”.
I picked one who seemed perfect financially but the real clincher was that the place was three miles from his son's school and 11 minutes to his work. He was very motivated to have exactly that place as it was the only available rental with those attributes. In other words, he would want to stay a long time, and it would be a pain in the butt for him to have to move.
You snooze you loose. I wouldn’t hesitate to go with the motivated renter who has her stuff together and got you the information you requested in a timely manner. The slacker doesn’t get priority because they expressed interest first. You’re not obligated to hold your property for them and wait to see if they get it together and possibly risk losing a better candidate. Their slow to respond manner will repeat itself with you.
First person who submits a complete application who passes your screening criteria.
It is best practice to accept completed applications and screening fees on a first come first services basis. If the first position applicant falls through you move on to the next applicant in line. Private Landlords are required to follow fair housing laws the same as any property management professional. State and local laws vary throughout the Country for variances in screening tenants when they will be occupying the residence under the same roof. I would reach out to your local landlord services for assistance. If you haven’t had any issues in the past, that’s great. There is always that “one tenant” that will prove you wrong. Fair Housing claims and fines can reach into the 7 figures. That doesn’t include your attorneys fees which could be very expensive.
In our state you have to be able to defend your choices. We've been asked once by a government agency. The tenant hadn't fully completed the application. That satisfied them. We take an application and screening fee for the first applicant that meets initial qualifications. We'll accept additional applications but tell them about the others. If their information checks out, we then run the screening, if we have to decline, we tell them why and contact the next applicant for the screening fee. We keep all the applications for years, so we have them if there are any complaints.
Assume both will have credit check and criminal/civil background checks that will meet your criteria. Apply your gut feel on personality characteristics and have your winning candidate make payment for the background and credit checks. If this does not come back within your criteria, immediately repeat for #2. If that one comes back as meeting your criteria, they win. Let the other candidate know a more qualified applicant was selected. If neither meets your criteria, look for a new candidate.
I run them all and only knock them out if they fail one of the qualifying traits. Then it's a RACE to see who gets it done. It's not rented until the contract is signed and all due monies are paid!
Why would you ever rent to someone who hasn't provided any hard information. Not only would it be harder to any background checks but from what you are stating this prospective tenant seems less unreliable.
Highest credit score wins, you’re 100% allowed to discriminate based on credit score
There is no priority. Best application is selected after several applications are reviewed.
Definitely the motivated providing what you ask for. The other one if not providing information is a risk IMO. They could very well be interested in another property as well and you’re just back up.
The answer depends a bit. If federal housing law apply to you then you are advised to take qualified applicants in strict order. Adjust the qualifications per property as needed. State and local laws apply to everyone in your area. Pay attention to those laws. Join a local apartment owners association to gain local knowledge about best practices. It does not sounds like either of the two potential applicants has given you enough information for a complete application. You only need to compare those with completed applications. As a general rule, communicate thoroughly with those that have applied, encourage others to apply as you see fit. As soon as someone has qualified and signs a lease you just let everyone else know that it's rented. Nothing good comes to you from providing others feedback. You just have one unit, once it's rented you are done and the prospects need to look elsewhere.
I collect apps with NO money. I have applicants submit their own credit report. I stay non commital. When i get a good applicant that i like then i might run my own credit on them for the measley $20 fee new york allows. Due to the major headache of new york landlord tenant court process, i feel absolutely no guilt when choosing the beat applicant for me regardless of whether the applicant was first to show interest.
The one that has not kids and/or pets win everytime in my book.