Dodged Another Bullet

I had another group of people apply for my 3 bedroom, 2 bath house today. This is one of my nicest houses and I like to find really good tenants for it.

I received a call this afternoon from a woman who was looking for a 3-bedroom house and was also looking for the school district that this house is in. I described the house to her and explained our screening criteria to her. She said that the screening wasn't a problem and that she would like to look at the house. I agreed to meet her in 30 minutes.

They arrived at the house just before my arrival. I was please to see a very nice Chrysler in the driveway - a good sign. As the woman got out of the car, she was clean and didn't have any obvious tattoos - another good sign. My first clue that something was amiss appeared when the man didn't get out of the car. People that are going to rent a house almost always want to see their new house. I asked the woman if her husband wanted to look at the house. She said something to him and he got out of the car. Although he didn't have any tattoos or any obvious warning signs, I didn't like the way he looked.

I showed them the house and they wanted it. I again explained our screening criteria and told them I would be checking everyone that would be living there. The man immediately responded that he would NOT be living there. YEAH RIGHT! I wasn't buying that for a moment. I asked where he lived and the woman replied that he lived with his sister. I asked how she would have enough income to afford the rent and she said that her mother would be living with her and her children. She claimed that between her mother and her, they made $3,000 per month. Then, a couple of minutes later, she asked if we would take a check from the Salvation Army for the security deposit. I responded by asking her why someone with a $3,000 per month income needed assistance from the Salvation Army.

To make a long story short, I returned to my computer to begin my screening. I always start with the criminal background check and discovered that the woman was evicted a little over 5 years ago. She also had a theft conviction about 8 years ago. Next, I called her next-to-last landlord. The landlord vividly remembered this tenant and told me it took her 4 months to get the property back in shape to be rented! This was enough that I had decided I wouldn't accept this applicant, but I was curious enough about the boyfriend that I checked him also. HE WAS EVICTED EARLIER THIS MONTH!!! That's why they insisted that he wouldn't be living in the house! He also had a conviction for assault and another one for drug possession.

A good screening helped me dodge a bullet today.