Have you had any applicants decide to talk to an attorney to review/understand your rental agreement before signing it?

Seems like it might be a vision of "things to come" with these renters.

Over 20 years with hundreds of properties I have had 1. Not saying that is right or wrong, just the facts.

@Joe Splitrock thank you for understanding what I didn't. We are much like Joe in our case. When I started out 21 years ago, yes, went over everything in our leases or land contracts in person. Took forever but I thought it was the right thing. In all honesty I think the tenants or vendees wanted me to shut up so they could just sign. Today, everything is electronic as we are there for when questions come up. But they rarely do. I did remember a 2nd time over the past 21 years that someone said they were going to have a lawyer look over the lease, happened late in 2021 so not sure how I forgot. This is a house we manage. The owner holds it in a trust and that makes finding out their names a bit more difficult. The tenant and their attorney asked us for the names of the owner and said they wanted to do a background check on them. First time we ever had that. They also started to get really picky about the property and asked for a lot of things to be done to it. Some reasonable and on the punch list and some not so much. So to @Scott Mac's point that did happen here. Still, 2x, and less say 5x in case my memory is failing me is statistically nothing in comparison to those who didn't have a lawyer (to our knowledge) review the lease.

I used to spend about an hour and go through each clause explaining it. I now changed over to electronic lease signing. They have time to review it and ask questions. People rarely ask questions. It is far better to have them understand the lease before signing it.

@Fili Aguirre I have had a couple applicants that were attorneys themselves. No other tenants have told me that an attorney reviewed the lease, but they could have. It is certainly their right and arguably best practice. I have seen countless landlords write their own leases and include illegal clauses. I don't see it as a problem if an attorney reviews the lease. It is only a problem if they request changes that are unreasonable. You can always say no to any requested change. This is why I have tenants sign a deposit to hold agreement when paying deposit. It states on that agreement that failure to sign a lease and take possession will result in forfeit of deposit. This way people don't waste my time and if they back out, I get the deposit for my trouble. @Scott Mac could be right that this may be a sign of a picky tenant. If they start picking apart the lease and want wording changes, that is not good. Of course that assumes your lease is well written in the first place. Either way, it is better to work through issues before they sign the lease. I would rather have a tenant understand the lease versus just blindly signing it.

Commercial property? Maybe. Basic residential with a standard lease? No, that's kinda weird.

I haven't come across it personally. They could just be being overcautious and checking for their own peace of mind.

I agree with Scott. Its most likely a sign as to what lies in the future. I will add if its a rental under $1,000 I would run the other way. If it was north of $3,000 per month I may chalk it up to them being a professional.

Do applicants talk to an attorney before signing?Do applicants talk to an attorney before signing?

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Do applicants talk to an attorney before signing?

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