Day 4 of my 21 day challenge. Someone mentioned in another post about having a written criteria list. What might I make sure I have on my criteria list? Thank you all for your response.

Obviously to approve to rent.

Here's ours.

1. No evictions ever;

2. Verifiable income x3 monthly rent before tax;

3. No big dangerous dogs (pitbulls, dobermans);

4. Decent credit (ideally 600+, but I would consider less if it's medical/education bills, and not skipping on Macy's;

5. 2 heads per bedroom;

may add, Favorable Landlord Reference.

may add, Clean car.

may add, Ok, with Home visit.

may add, Favorable Landlord Reference.

may add, Clean car.

may add, Ok, with Home visit.

The formal criteria are must make three times the rent, have no evictions or credit problems and non smoking, and no pets over twenty pounds unless I run into a service dog.

Informal criteria are must keep the appointment or call. No shows do not get a viewing even if they call again the next day. Filthy food spots on clothes are a no go. I have alrady made that mistake. Making snarky comments about things at the house or apartment are a no go. I listen to their story and may reject if they have a motorcycle, are an artist that uses a lot of smelly turpentine or plan to download a storage room into my basement. Just listen and imagine this or that in yoru building.

i don't like it when they tag along all the family. And their kids are running all over.

Everything Elena said. I would add, animals MUST be neutered or spayed, no exceptions, and must be friendly. We have to be able to enter the premises without the tenant in an emergency.

I don't mind tenants who text, in fact that's how I want to communicate with them once they are in place as I hate talking on the phone.

This is a high-level list. My specific list goes into more detail.

Income: Must be able to document a MINIMUM of 3x the monthly rent. Minimum of 1 years on the job or 90 days on current job and 1 year or more at previous job in same industry. W2 income only: no garnishment-proof income (SSI, Social Security, self-employed).

LL reference: Must have two positive references (prior and current) OR 150% deposit required. No unpaid eviction judgments. More than 1 eviction...nope.

Background: no violent felons or sex offenders, period. Non-violent felons must be "clean" a minimum of 5 years AFTER serving time and/or probation. 3 or more misdemeanors within past 5 years is a NO GO. I don't count traffic violations unless they are DWIs.

Credit: pull the report but ignore the score; it is meaningless. Debt to Income ratio of 40%-50%

I require 150% security deposit. Over 50% DTI I don't accept. 3 or more charge-offs in the past 2 years...nope. Check for past addresses that they might have "forgotten" to list on the application. Check for fraud alerts and maiden names and re-run the background check using alternative names/forms of names (Joe, Joseph, Joey, etc).

Question for Sid:

Doesn't HUD have some guideline for not allowing you to discriminate against an applicants source of income? Say that say you require 3 times the rental amount, you must count what they receive from government sources and such? I was under that impression.

JB, so far all of the source of income laws are local, not federal.

You are in Oregon, where there is no source of income law, but it is illegal for you to turn down Section 8, Oregon state law, not HUD regulation.

6,

Fair Housing Law violations carry HUGE fines. Ignorance is not an excuse and they don't have a sense of humor. It's easy for someone to claim you treated them unfairly.

If (actually WHEN) someone files a complaint you treated them unfairly the Fair Housing Dept wants to see your WRITTEN CRITERIA and documentation to prove you applied it consistently and equally to EVERY application.

As I understand, you can have a different written criteria for each parcel of land.

Different types of property can have different criteria.

If you set your criteria high and no one qualifies you are allowed to go back and pick the best one.

Do not write on the original application. It is your only proof of the info they provided. Make a copy to write on.

We attach my criteria sheet to each application and check off each item, writing in notes as needed.

If they come calling I can pull the app and prove I checked each person on the same criteria.

Here's my criteria. Print this for each property and put them in a notebook. Then print and use a copy for each application.

All the best!

BRAD

Rental Application Criteria For Address___________________________ On File

Name Date

(Criteria is set high. If no one qualifies you may go back and choose.)

___ Not a friend or relative, including church and work acquaintances.

___ Ready to move now or when the vacancy is expected

___ Pays similar rent now

___ Cooperative attitude

___ All persons age 18+ submitted a signed application

___ Photos IDs on all persons age 18+

___ Employment documented, minimum 12 months, with that employer

-Temp agencies do not count

-Lateral job change or upgrade is OK, not job hopping

-Garnishable: No self employed, SSI, disability, or Section8

(where SOURCE OF INCOME is not a protected class)

___ Gross monthly combined income is 4 times the rent

---------OR use 42% of net income

15% of gross is allowed for transportation*

15% of gross is allowed for student loans*

--------*anything greater than 15% is subtracted from the RENT AFFORD total

___ Has a rental history of 2 or more landlords. (Exception: enrolled students for student housing)

___ Good reference from PREVIOUS landlord, not the current

___ Non-Smoker

___ No animals

___ No evictions in the recent 5 years

___ No current garnishments or Wage Assignments

___ No violent, or dangerous crime convictions in past 10 years

___ No pending lawsuits, court appearances, DUI…

___ Not on Sex Offender list

___ Credit score 700 or greater (credit reports only required for out of state)

___ Contacted. Has Deposit and First Month Rent ready

___ Has toured the home

___2 Minute In Home Visit shows clean, odor free, damage free

Applicant MUST be approved on every line.

Date: _______ Approved _______ Offered lease for 24hours

_______ On hold pending more info ______ Denied

6er,

You don't GET and In Home Visit, it's not a gift to you. You DO the visit.

Once you learn/realize 3 things:

-applicants LIE

-even some nice rich people are total slobs

-I value my investment

the visits are easy.

We simply call or text to confirm they are still interested AND have the move in money, then set an appt within the next 24 hours. Good applicants are happy to show you they take care of their home. They WANT your rental because it is nicer, cleaner, fresher then the others they have seen.

This step is awkward for many LLs but I cannot begin to count the THOUSAND$$$ these few minutes have saved me when the res moves out.