Real Estate Investor · Rantoul, IL · Member since 2013 · 40 posts · 9 votes
12y
Unless they are in the witness protection program and dont know their new information, I dont see how that would be "Not applicable". I would disregard the application. If they don't take it seriously enough to fill it out completely, then I wouldn't consider them a serious applicant.
Who ever told you that you need a SSN to run a background check been drinking way to much Boone farm apple wine. All you need is a full name and DOB to run a background check. I know this for a fact.
Joe Gore
Perhaps if your name is Joe Gore, but try pulling a credit or background check on John Smith or {up here} Jean-Pierre Gagné and figure out which one is your applicant.
Roy,
Read my post I said to run a background check all you need is a name and DOB. Pulling credit you need name, address, DOB, SSN.
Joe Gore
Joe,
I did read your post and I have pulled many credit and background checks using DoB, SIN {our version of SSN} and {former} addresses.
When you are in a university town w/ 10,000 students and your applicant is John Smith - you will get handful of matches every time. Then you have to go back to the applicant and let them know that providing their SIN is the only way you will be able to isolate the correct reports.
When you search any database, if you do not use a unique key, you run the possibility of having multiple records returned.
Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2012 · 20 posts · 6 votes
12y
No income makes processing the application impossible ,especially if you require a minimum income to rent ratio. And verification of income (pay stubs or letters of awards) should be collected before processing app. I don't accept the app fee or the app if the form isn't filled out and the supporting documentation isn't attached.
Real Estate Investor · Columbus, OH · Member since 2013 · 114 posts · 21 votes
12y
@David Foster You're right all of that should be collected up front. But sometimes I just let them fill out an app so they will go away. I get tired of debating issues and somehow letting them fill out the app satisfies them, even if I've already told them they won't qualify based on what they have told me. I just take it and say thank you have a nice day. I don't contact them and I never hear from them again.
I concur. Our application guidelines (which come attached to the application form) outline our verification process and very clearly state that we only process complete applications.
We also collect a nominal application fee ($20) which covers a portion of the cost of the checks we perform. These two steps have been a very good pre-screen and weed out a lot of tire kickers and those who do not qualify.
Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2012 · 20 posts · 6 votes
12y
I agree that accepting apps can make the situation go away. But if they are paying the app fee, they sometimes expect an answer in return. Over the years, I've had several come back to request the status of their app. They've gotten upset when they find out their was declined since they didn't completely fill it out. As a stop gap, applicants now sign a per-application form that specifies the conditions under which we will make our determination whether to rent to them. It's amazing we still get misinformation (intentional or not) that disqualifies the applicant.
If an applicant meets the requirements and merely needs to bring back the supporting docs (pay stubs, award letters, etc) we give them a reasonable time based on their situation. In that case, we let them string it out a bit.
Investor · Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 465 votes
12y
Another group of people without SSN would be foreign students. These students will only be assigned a SSN if they are working part time on campus - like a research assistant, or they have special authorization to work off campus.
If you are in a college town this is an important demographic.
Another group of people without SSN would be foreign students. These students will only be assigned a SSN if they are working part time on campus - like a research assistant, or they have special authorization to work off campus.
If you are in a college town this is an important demographic.
Sam:
We rent to many foreign students - most of them stay at our boarding houses (rent by the room). We do not worry about having an SSN/SIN for them as they will have no credit history anyway (not in N.A.).
The law here forbids collecting rent in advance and limits the amount of security deposit that can be collected to one months rent. We rent month-to-month and the security deposit allows us to cover ourselves if we need to ask someone to leave ... or they bolt. It's only happened once and the individual called us very soon after an offered reprimands.
Our "incident" rate amongst our foreign student tenants is the lowest we have of any clientele.
Investor · Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 465 votes
12y
Roy,
I am not surprised your incident rate is lowest.
I don't have a problem renting to foreign students.
In general they will not skip rent. Most foreign students attending American universities are pretty well off. They are typically required to have sufficient cash in the bank before universities accept them and embassies grant them a visa, so money is usually not a problem.
Secondly, and I hate to say it, many foreign students, and especially those from Asian countries, consider not paying rent shameful. In general I found them to lack the entitlement attitude that many natives have.
If they are otherwise qualified, I'd ask them why they didn't put that information down. Over the years, people have been trained to protect their social security number, date of birth and other highly personal information. They may not realize why it is so important to a potential landlord.
A tenant should expect to have to give this info to a landlord. If they won't provide the info again when you ask them, move on to the next applicant. They're hiding something. They didn't even put a birthday down. Birthdays aren't that personal. I bet this tenant lists their birthday on their Facebook.
I would absolutely require a credit report, rental history check, employment check, verified copies of ID, court record search, background search, etc. if someone wanting to rent from me wouldn't even provide their birthday. They're living in my property-- I have to know who they are.
Maybe they're an illegal immigrant, but even then, not listing a birthday? Weird.
An ITIN is not to be used as credit purpose only filing taxes under. You have to farm workers who have a work visa and not required to get an ITIN or SSN, and you cannot discrimination against them under fair housings.
If you require credit report/credit checks of all applicants, how is this discriminating under fair housing?
If you require all tenants to have a 550 credit score, and a tenant has no credit history, bad credit, or no credit report at all, how is that not allowed?
I can not compel them to complete the application but I can not process it without that information. If they won't share that with me I would share $100K of RE with them. Next.
That's my thoughts.
I've had international student roommates who had no credit before, but they had plenty to verify themselves with (tax stubs, driver's license, work reference, etc.).
In some countries, it is considered a cultural shame to pay rent late. I had a roommate from China who always paid on time like clockwork and said paying bills late was shameful, bankruptcy was shameful, and divorce was not considered acceptable in their culture. Some cultures really do consider debt, getting fired, not paying bills a shame to themselves, their family, and their country.
Dallas, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 744 votes
12y
Illegal immigrant will pay their rent on time verse anyone else because they don't want any problems. I agree landlords should screen tenants to see if it is a fit for their property, and the tenant has a right to know who the landlord is and most landlords don't like being questioned by a tenant, and that should raise a question with the tenant whom the landlord is hiding something.