Landlord Quick Tip
Tip #11: Where’s This Relationship Going?
Is your applicant planning to stick around through the term of the lease?
Not all the information you need to evaluate a tenant will come from screening reports. Hints about their intentions will come from your face-to-face interview.Discuss the applicant’s motives for renting. Ask them why they are looking for a rental. Why are they looking in your neighborhood? How do they feel about their current landlord–do they have bad things to say? Are they leaving their current rental early?
Their answers could signal a lack of commitment. You may find out they don’t like being a renter, and are looking to buy a home. As soon as they find it, they’ll try to wriggle out of the lease. Maybe they want to land a rental before their recently filed eviction or recent default shows up on the reports.
Follow up by finding out if the current/previous landlords can confirm what the applicant tells you.
See last week’s Landlord Quick Tip.
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