Real Estate Agent · Hamilton, NJ · Member since 2013 · 464 posts · 311 votes
I am interested in renting to college students and was wondering what others do to ensure that their tenants pay their rent? I know many landlords do income checks on potential tenants but I would suspect that many college students don't make enough to feel comfortable. Also, what are ways to collect rent other then asking them to mail you their check? Any advice would be very helpful.
Thanks Chris
We have several student tenants. We still take an application fee and perform regular screening (credit/background/reference/employment checks) but our expectations are most will have little to no credit history. In that case we require a guarantor (usually a parent, grandparent, older sibling) and screen the guarantor as we would a tenant.
We execute a separate guarantee with each guarantor which are attached as Schedules to the lease, rather than have the guarantor sign the lease as a co-tenant. This is principally due to the fact we have a standard lease {courtesy of the Rentalsman} which does not provide for guarantors within the lease.
Whenever we have an issue with behaviour or payment, we usually only need to mention that we will be calling Mom and things get straightened out. Once we actually had to call Mom and she was sufficiently embarrassed by junior that she started paying his rent directly to us.
Rental Property Investor · Brookline, MA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 777 votes
12y
@Christopher Giannino We always got their parents or guardians to co-sign the leases. Generally the parents were amenable to automatic deductions or automatic bill pay(paper check generation) from their banks.
Make sure the parents know about late fees and that you enforce them every month. Send a separate bill if the student is paying, but is late with their check.
Real Estate Agent · Hamilton, NJ · Member since 2013 · 464 posts · 311 votes
12y
Aaron Montague Colleen F. Thanks for your input! I rented while in college and that's what my landlord did (have a consigner). My roommates and I were lucky enough to never have problems paying the rent. Had we missed a rent would you automatically go to the consigner and ask for the rent? How does that process work for you?
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
12y
I have knock on wood not had it happen. I would likely call the parents though. They have been late and I am remiss in that I am forgiving on this once a year. (January) Since our area has 9 month leases some of the other landlords in the area charge by the semester which works for them. I don't do this with a 3 bedroom. I mostly get working class kids and its often at least partly their money paying the rent.
We have several student tenants. We still take an application fee and perform regular screening (credit/background/reference/employment checks) but our expectations are most will have little to no credit history. In that case we require a guarantor (usually a parent, grandparent, older sibling) and screen the guarantor as we would a tenant.
We execute a separate guarantee with each guarantor which are attached as Schedules to the lease, rather than have the guarantor sign the lease as a co-tenant. This is principally due to the fact we have a standard lease {courtesy of the Rentalsman} which does not provide for guarantors within the lease.
Whenever we have an issue with behaviour or payment, we usually only need to mention that we will be calling Mom and things get straightened out. Once we actually had to call Mom and she was sufficiently embarrassed by junior that she started paying his rent directly to us.
To directly answer your question: We remind both whenever we don't have a rent check. I have automatic emails that go out 5 days before with a reminder. Then another on the 1st, and each day afterwards until the rent is posted in the system. And I pick up the phone on the 3rd.
I always do credit checks even on the tenants if they are students. 99% of the time the guarantor pays the rent. We always get parents or relatives involved if they don't make 40x the rent. 80x the rent for cosigners.
However, if the students have really bad credit - we will deny them even if the cosigner is qualified.