The Rental Application Process – Let’s Get Started!

Wondering how to verify a rental application? It’s critical to identify potential red flags, such as insufficient income or problematic rental history. 

Always remember – a vacant unit is much less expensive than an eviction! Be thorough.

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Trust, Then Verify That Rental Application!

Getting the rental application approved means never simply trusting what you’ve been told, emailed, texted, etc. I explained in my previous blog how to pre-screen tenants before showing them your property, so that you immediately reduce the number of non-qualified people who won’t be approved. You don’t want to waste their time or yours.

See the story below!

Take Careful Notes, and Verify As Much As You Can On The Rental Application Prior To Showing Your Property

This bears repeating, so I will: there’s no reason to waste anyone’s time in showing properties to those that are not qualified to rent it. Many landlords use rental platforms to accept applications as the first step, and they likely charge the tenants for that. I prefer to do this in a more manual way.

I’ll start the tenant screening process with the initial call, email or text from anyone who contacts me about your rental listing. I recommend you do this yourself, unless you’re dealing with dozens or hundreds of units

I strongly advise NOT to show your properties until you’ve pre-qualified the tenant first. If there are any concerns about their ability to pay rent, to pass a criminal background check, to prove verifiable income and a verifiable rental history, and/or to pay the security deposit in full, then stop right there. 

I’ve Shown The Property, And The Tenant Is Interested – Now What?

I provide them with the rental application. Make sure your application asks information on what is allowed, and not what *isn’t* allowed. You are allowed (in Florida, anyway), to ask how many minors will be living in the property. This is different than asking, “How many kids do you have?”.

Anyone over 18 that will be living in the property must EACH fill out an application and pay for their background check. That’s my policy, and I don’t deviate from it.

• Verify where they are living now. I require a verifiable rental history for the last 5 years, or at homeownership at their current residence. Then I look up the address on the county’s property tax web site. If the tenant has been living in their own home, their name is what I expect to see. If they are renting, I will verify that the landlord’s name that they put on the application is the one who actually owns the property, according to the tax records. 
  

  Very Helpful Hint:

• Sometimes tenants are claiming to rent from a landlord, when the “landlord” is actually a friend or family member. How will you know? The first thing I ask the person who is listed as the landlord (unless it’s a management company), is, “So and So has applied to rent a property from me, and your name is on the application. How do you know them?”
  
  
• This is a way to find out if a friend or family member is posing as the landlord. Sometimes people are asked to pose as an employer or landlord. By asking this question, you’re making them tell you which role. Occasionally they’re not sure … I’m not kidding. What you’re basically doing is verifying who you’re actually talking to. 

Interpreting property tax records – use that county’s tax and/or appraisal web site

• If I see the same last name in the property tax records for their current address, but the tenant didn’t volunteer that their landlord is their relative, I will ask. I’m already less inclined to continue processing their application if they haven’t volunteered this. The issue here is that you want to be sure the tenant has a *verifiable* rental history. When a tenant says they’ve been renting from a friend or relative, it will be difficult to ascertain if they’ve ever actually paid rent or what their history is.
  
  
• Be careful considering an applicant without a rental history. Yes, we all had to start somewhere, but if you’re an inexperienced landlord, you need to be extra cautious. You can ask for a much larger security deposit (in some states), or have a co-signer. If the rental market is strong in your area, I highly recommend going with an applicant who has a verifiable rental history.

Management Companies

• Ask the management company when the tenant moved into their current unit. Verify that info with what is on the rental application. I will ask what they’re paying in rent. and if the tenant has paid on time and in full. I also want to know if they owe any late fees, are they likely going to get back their security deposit, do they have any pets, and what kind/how many?
  
  
• If you’re dealing with an apartment complex or professional management company, you may be required to submit the tenant’s signed rental application to them, to comply with privacy issues. That’s not a problem.
  
  Another Helpful Tip: Sometimes, a previous landlord doesn’t want to say anything negative about the tenant. Maybe they’re just happy to have them move out. Or maybe they’re concerned about legal issues if they say anything bad. When I speak to a landlord and I sense they’re reticent about saying anything at all, I simply ask, “Would you rent to this person again?”. That’s a simple yes or no answer, and it will tell me immediately if I need to stop the process right there. 

Verifying Employment

• When a tenant puts a supervisor’s phone number on the rental application, I don’t usually call that one first. It could be a friend’s personal cell phone and not the actual employer. I look up the main corporate number for the employer/company, and I ask to be transferred to their supervisor they listed. When I speak to the supervisor, I ask what the applicant’s salary is compared to what is on the application. I ask the same about the length of employment, their title and if continued employment is a high probability.
  
  
• Although no company can guarantee continued employment, I will ask if the applicant is any imminent danger of losing their job. I do this for their protection as well – if layoffs are coming, I don’t want anyone to be put in a tenuous situation with a new rental and suddenly no job. 

Verifying Income

• I require paystubs for W2 employees be included with their rental application, and tax returns for the self-employed.

Pets

• I ask during the pre-qualification phone call/text/email what kind, and how many, pets the applicant has. I will ask again – one 10 pound Yorkie can suddenly become 2 pit bulls, or a tenant may tell you that they don’t have pets currently, but plan to get one. You may find out that they plan to keep their ex-spouse’s Great Dane once they move. Be clear on your pet policy, as the lease agreement will be very detailed in this regard.

Security Deposit

• I would have already asked this on the initial phone call or email, but I’m sure to confirm it again when processing their rental application. And if they say they’re waiting for their tax refund, there’s a major red flag. 

Background Check

• I don’t charge a fee for the rental application. Many landlords and rental companies charge for their applications. They do this partly to make additional income, and partly to filter out the unqualified. I don’t charge for my app, because I pre-qualify before even showing the property. 99% of tenants do not make it past that step. I rarely have to process more than two applications for a rental property, and I only do one at a time. If the first one is processed successfully, then they pay for their background check through American Tenant Screen. They pay on that site, not to me, and we both get a copy of the report. If that comes back clean and consistent with their application, we’re good to go.

In Conclusion

• Yes, it seems long and tedious to process a rental application, but it actually only take a day or two. Usually, employers and previous landlords return my calls promptly. Once I’ve verified everything on the rental application, I will tell the tenant they’ve been approved, pending their background check. The report is usually generated in one business day. Once I have it, I let the applicant know they’ve been accepted. Yay!!

And Of Course, A Story!

After approving a married couple’s application, we made an appointment to go over the lease by phone. When I called, the husband answered and said he would like to have his wife’s name removed from the lease. Say what? No, they weren’t getting divorced, he said. He told me that she would be staying mostly with her grandmother to help her out. I explained that I approved them based on both their incomes, and removing her from the lease would no longer qualify him based on his own income. Not to mention this sounded sketchy all of a sudden.

His response was that he was a very frugal person and would stop playing golf in order to keep his expenses down. Um, no. What he was really saying was that he was using his (probably soon-to-be-ex) wife’s income to qualify for a property he couldn’t afford, and she agreed to it up to the point of signing the lease and being legally committed to the rent. 

You will hear all kinds of stories on the landlord journey, and when something sounds like, “Whaaa??”, trust your feelings! Don’t let someone try to explain the inexplicable.

In My Next Blog – The Lease Agreement and Move-In Process! 

I’m Alyse, a landlord since 2008, in both Florida and NJ. Over the years, I’ve learned from my many mistakes, and hopefully I can save you from making some of the same. Of course, you’ll be making some unique mistakes of your own, but not to worry – someone, somewhere, has had the same problem and when we share stories, we learn from each other. If you’d like one-on-one coaching or mentoring, I’m also available for that!

Share tips, successes, and pitfalls of where you list your rental properties. Drop me an email or subscribe to my newsletter, and I might feature the issue and the resolution!