Looking for advice on potential tenant

[Linda Thomas]

Hello everyone,

i have a 3 bedroom for rent. Single mother with one child is looking to rent the house she has two jobs which would meet the income requirements however she has no rental history and has only been at both jobs for four months with this raise a red flag for you guys or do you think I should give her a chance I'm just concerned about what if she gets sicck, fired, burnt out, fired she also said she gets child support but not thru court the dad gives her cash. . Im looking for thoughts and or suggestions how you would handle this? 

[Bjorn Ahlblad]

I would not rent to her. Too many if’s that you already raised. 

[Nathan Gesner]

What if someone has one job and gets fired? What if someone is 22 years old, perfect health, then discovers terminal brain cancer? What if you rent to a family of three with 15 years marriage, perfect rent record, and a job that eanrs 6x your monthly rent, but then the husband runs off with his lover and refuses to pay child support.

There are some scenarios that are incredibly common and worthy of denial. An example would be three 19-year-olds working at McDonalds that pool their money to rent a 3bed/2bath house together. That's going to turn out bad about 60-70% of the time, so it makes sense to deny them. 

A person losing one of their two jobs isn't as bad as someone losing their only job. The fact that she has two jobs and raises a kid alone shows me she takes responsibility and works hard. I would not deny her for that reason. On the other hand, she has no Landlord references, so you have no idea how she manages a rental or if she pays on time. That's a red flag. I would still approve her, but I would require a double deposit.

[Linda Thomas]

@Nathan g -thank you! I was alsi concerned bc shes only been at her 2 jobs short term less than 4 months . I think i will take your advice and give her a chance. 

[Colleen F.]

@Linda Thomas  Where is she living now?   For tenants like this I  do my due diligence but if they check out I take them.  I do call personal references for this kind of tenant since they don't have landlord references.  I suggest they list a neighbor or someone who has known them a long time. It isn't fool proof but it does let them know you aren't just letting anyone in the door.  As Nathan said anyone can loose a job. I would not count what she says she gets from dad.  I also pay attention to payment history on the credit check.

[Robert Olinick]

Hey! You should consider their ability to put down first, lasts and security deposit as well. 

[Alex Forest]

@Linda Thomas I  think  the answer depends on your tenant pool. Why does she not have a residential history, where is she lliving now? I wonder if there wouldn't be another(man) joining her in month two(which you would not have screened). What does her credit look like?  

[Isaac S.]

Also, we're assuming that you did do a credit check and national public records check for evictions, and that all checked out?

[Scott Lundgren]

This is always going to be a debate, we have all been young and just starting out.  That doesn't determine the risk, credit scores and background checks are all still necessary of course, I wouldn't rent to anybody that doesn't meet the minimum requirements.  So let's assume that she has passed those.  You are going to take a risk on a tenant no matter if they are young or old, single or married.  Just about every question you asked applies to all categories, if you have a couple that both work what if one of them gets sick, fired, ect.  Same results right? So the judgement has to be based on your goals.  Once you have a clear understanding of your focus then this question answers itself.  An investor that is by the numbers will already have an age, income, credit score, range they are ok with.  If the applicant meets them then it's a yes, if not a no.  Zero emotion involved, just follow the criteria and this is solved. An investor that isn't as focused on the numbers will bend the rules and go outside of the range because they want to give someone a chance to rebuild who just got divorced, or was unemployed for a while and just got a good job.  Some of my best tenants were people like this.   But that is because I'm more like the 2nd type of investor in this example.   Having said that I've also had some tenants take advantage of that and I had to evict them.  I look at that risk and feel it's acceptable to me, it may not be to you.  My point is you should evaluate who you are, once you know your goals the debate is over.

[Henry T.]

No. I would require 1 yr on any job. No rental history, absolutely not.

How can she maintain a house, work two jobs, and has a kid? If she's really young and

just starting out, you start with an apartment. Dont do it.

[David P.]

In this environment, I would say no too. No rental history is big flag, and i only rent to families with both parents now. Not to sound judgemental but you need stability and good income for a tenant. The one time i inherited a property with a bf/gf and one kid but they were not married...the couple broke up soon after i got it and the bf mailed me a bounce check.

Also being a brother to a single mother sister I can tell you they are super high strung, emotional and unstable.  They may go off the rails at any moment notice. My sister makes the rents because she does get child support and another form of stable income from the government but if she had to go look for work and take care of a child at same time i wouldn't trust her to come through fincinaially