I turned possession of my condo over to the tenant on the 15th

of last month. He paid me 1st & last plus a deposit. He told me he was a nurse. I tried to call the facility listed on the pay stub but couldn't reach a live person. I called the name he gave me for his supervisor in the previous city he worked in. This person said he was a good worker. I called a previous landlord whose name he'd given me and she gave him a glowing recommendation

The person I usually have do the screening said since he was a nurse-he would've already been screened. And the supervisor confirmed this.

1 1/2 weeks weeks later , I started getting a gut feeling about him.

I was able to get through to a live person at the nursing home he listed as being employed at. They said they had no one by that name that's worked there. An attorney friend of mine told me I should send

the tenant a note stating that the nursing home he gave as a reference

had no one with his name working there ,and that I'd like to get the name

of his supervisor or human resources person. I sent that to the tenant more than week ago he hasn't contacted me yet.

John,

John,

Yup, you fell for the scam. Thise were his freinds you called and got glowing references. Too good to be true.

Call those reference numbers from a different phone and ask if your res lives there. Look uo the tax records for his previous addreses and call thise owners or match uo the names.

He will not return your new appl. Time to ask him to leave before you evict.

You got fooled, happened to all of us. The good thing is this is cheap tuition in Landlord University. Just learn more about screening.

PMs are notorious for NOT screening well.

Stay strong and keep moving forward.

Good time to evaluate your Screening Process.

Create a List of (Legal) Qualifications.

Its all out there. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Screen x3. (Effort)

But I still haven't found, what I'm looking for.

Did you run a background check on the guy? He might not work where he says he works, but he DID manage to come up with a goodly sum of money to move in. Even if he doesn't pay you another penny, you should be able to evict without losing much money.

I think you've identified some holes in your screening to improve for next time.

Agreeing with others. You got scammed. Welcome to the club. The day rent is late, file for eviction.

PM can't do anything now. The horses are out of the barn. Get ready for the ride! ;-)

Btw, the person who normally does your screening is either ignorant and needs to be trained, or they are lazy and need to be fired. Nurses are screened, yes, but their employers do not screen them for the same criteria land lords do. There is a chronic shortage of nurses in many places, particularly in the lower paying categories. Some nurses administer surgical care along side a doctor. Some nurses empty bed pans. In my town CNAs have a 75-hour certificate program and start out making $12.50/hour; nurse anesthetists have advanced degrees and make $150,000/year. Obviously, the degree of screening an employer performs will be commensurate with the quality of the position they need to fill and the availability of labor.

All "nurses" -- whether RNs, CNAs, LPNs, LVNs, or CRNAs are licensed by their states. This information can be looked up on-line for free. Go to your state's Department of Health website and look up "provider credential search". Sometimes you will have to go to your State's board of nursing website, depending on the organization of your state.

You should be able to verify the license of any health professional with name and birthdate. You will still need to verify ID, to make sure that the professional's ID and license, is not stolen. Nurses now need to submit fingerprints to be licensed, since stealing professional licenses is common.

Funny -- no one wanted to be a nurse when we were making $8 an hour. Now people try to steal our identity and licenses.

You could probably do an eviction now based on the fraud in the inducement of the lease. But that would be long and complicated. Also, expensive, because you would need an attorney.

I would wait until this guy is late with the rent and immediately give notice to pay/quit. This scammer is not likely to last long.

Wait to see if he pays rent. If not act immediately. Know who to call if you need to hire a lawyer. Figure that out now. First thing tomorrow call several lawyers and be prepared. You don't need a property manager at this point. You need a game plan. And understand the process. Sorry this happened to you. I would also figure out a better way to screen so they don't get the keys. For example reading this site daily, take a photo of his drivers license with your phone camera. Or ask to see driver's license. Make a copy. Don't let them in until you have spoken to employer... It may take a few days, that's ok. It's your business. Is this your only

I've used a PM, and some of them are good, but it's expensive. Everyone just thinks of the 10% of rents per month but there are other extra fees they tack on as well. Unless you live out of the area I wouldn't use one.