The most important job property managers do - Tenant placement Part 1

I wrote about “What Property Managers Do” in the past. There are more than 60 things I do, but some are more important than the others. So what is the most important jobs that property managers do? I think it is choosing the right tenants. Once that is taken care of, a lot of things go smooth. This blog will explain to you how the process of choosing the right tenants work.

5 Criteria You Want To Consider

1. First thing you need to do before placing a tenant is to decide the criteria of who you will accept. By having this, you will save a lot of time and headache. I’ll explain this later in more details. To decide the criteria, make sure you familiarize yourself with Fair Housing Laws. The important thing to know here is that not only you need to know and follow the federal laws and state laws but also the local laws if there is one. Make sure you continue to educate yourself as the laws or definition do change.
2. What are the typical criteria? You want to have a minimum income requirement. If it is “3 times the rent,” that means if you have a property with $1,000 rent, the applicant needs to make $3,000 or more. There may be an exception depending on the area. For example, as of this writing in Cook County, IL, source of income is a “protected class.” If a voucher (Section 8) holder wants to rent your house, you can NOT deny the person solely on the fact that the person has a voucher. If the voucher covers the $1,000 rent, the person doesn’t have to make any income to pass the income criteria. Make sure you verify the source of income. You can either ask the applicant to send you the pay stub or contact the employer directly. You can do this as long as the right language is in the application to allow you to contact the employer.
3. Another thing you want to consider is credit. While this does NOT necessary means the credit score, it is a convenient way, if not a perfect way, to gauge someone's creditworthiness. If you set a score limit to 650, it’s easier to accept or deny, and you don’t have to use your brain power to make a decision. However, know that some people don’t have a credit. You have to decide what to do in that case. Or what if 2 people want to live together, and one has an excellent credit score while the other person doesn’t. What do you do at that point?
4. Even if someone has a good income and good credit, it doesn’t do any good if that person causes a lot of trouble or don’t pay rent. The best way to find this out is to call the current and the previous landlords. By putting the written language in the application, you have the permission to contact the past landlords or property managers to find out who they really are.
5. There is one more essential thing you want to check, and that is the background check. Even if someone makes good money, credit is good, and the past landlords love that person, you don’t want to rent to a murderer! There are a lot of services out there available to check the background at a reasonable price. There is no good reason to skip this process. The background check should also reveal the eviction history. Know that if the eviction just got filed, it may not show up on the record. While it is a little more time consuming, checking the actual filing record will get you the most accurate information.