State Specific Question About: MISSOURI (MO)

Hello

Was wondering if a potential tenant that offers to pay me for the full year's rent all at once is a red flag.

Yes, therer are many concerns about accepting up front rent....and yes, it can complicate the eviction process if problems come up.

You left out the reasons these applicants have said why they are offering up front rent.

Some others on this site have used up front rent successfully with college students, with not many problems.

Others tell about really scary stories about getting up front rent, only to find out that the original applicants may not continue to live there and allow others, perhaps with a criminal & drug background move in and take over...

Then there are some with celler type credit ratings, evictions etc problems that are desparate....that are trying to dig out of that hole of desparation..but makes me wonder just how they scraped up a full year's up front money?

If you wade through all that, and decide to accept, make sure the money is paid with certified funds, not a personal check that can bounce.

Don't let the promise of up front rent cloud your judgment during the screening process. First, screen just like you always would. Then if the tenant wants to pay some in advance, it is no problem for me.

I've done it, with an applicant who had no job and didn't meet income criteria, but had plenty of money. Worked out OK for me. Here I could easily evict and refund money... how is your court/state laws?

You are absolutely right Brad...I was only attempting to point out potential risks and problems...

You and I probably have longer experiences than the OP...and know alternatives to take...

All of us have made mistakes in the past, and have recovered and learned to not make those mistakes again.

Yet we share some of our own past experiences along with other experiences read from other site uses to advise folks like Maggie...ideas for them to consider, analyze and to decide...

If things were to go bad, it is easier to evict for non-payment of rent than for lease violations. However, one still can evict.

The only time I took much money in advance was when an agency was paying relocation money and gave me six months up front.

The few other times I was offered a lot of money up front, the applicant appeared to me to be "shady" and one I didn't want.

Her beacon score came back low at 595.

I had a tenant pay for a year upfront...She was 65, no credit problems. She was moving up from Virginia Beach, cause her mom was sick, and in a near by nursing home...all sounded good.

She sold her house, and wanted to pay me upfront for a year, so she could focus on her mom....and she, herself, was going to have hip replacement surgery...Made sense to me...

She was retired Navy, with a pension...I thought, "great, military captain, nice and neat"

This is when I ran across my first, and only, hoarder. She had her crap packed up to the ceiling in most rooms..the cellar was packed full, the front porch was loaded..I had never seen anything like it...This was before the A&E hoarding show, lol.

She had owned a house in VA before that, which I did verify, so no rental history/landlord to query.

She's out now, thank god, and I have a new clause in my lease about storage being allowed in approved areas only.