W2 Engineer and part time REI · St. Louis, MO · Member since 2017 · 43 posts · 36 votes
Of course the first prospective tenant I ever met in my not yet begun REI career meets none of the established guidelines!
prospective tenant is a foreign exchange officer from a country allied with the US. I verified this is a real program where allied countries exchange military officers. We are also very close to a large military base so more than 50% of the homes in the neighborhood are military. other details about them and questions I have are:
1. income is close to 5x rent
2. how effective of a background check and credit check can I do on a foreign national who has no SS#? would a copy of military orders be a sufficient replacement for a background check if I can't figure out how to do one?
3. They have never rented, they have always owned a home. They are only renting because it is a temporary (3 year) assignment. They said they can provide a letter from their home loan lender showing exemplary payment history.
4. They were friendly, professional, on time in person.
So assuming they can prove everything they said. would you rent to them?
Think of it this way. Say you did a background check, everything is excellent - you'd rent to them in a heart bit. If that's the case - use cash. Would 2x or 4x of the security deposit elevate your concerns? If so - that's what I would do. Of course get as much information as you can. See if you can talk to the CO or get a letter from one.
@Gregory J. That's quite the first tenant to screen.
Speaking from experience, 99.9% of the officers that come to the US for exchange tours are the top officers in their nation's military. I'm talking they will become Generals in the near future. If the country is a NATO country this holds even more true.
He will have some sort of US military "sponsor" who will help him get acclimated to the unit he joins. I'd get that person's contact info and ask them to help with the questions you have. They will be able to "translate" what you are asking for.
I'd rent to them for Three reasons.:
1. They have done something right to get an assignment to the US. His nation and the US military did your screening for you!
2. If they mess anything up it becomes a big deal very quick. Like Department of State talking to Department of Defense big deal. This incentivizes them to behave.
3. You get a tenant for three years, with a very low probability of turnover. They can't buy a house and after moving his family from another country, they will have a high aversion to moving again.
In my humble opinion you've found yourself a super tenant!
I am former military I use to live in Germany for about 5 years total every time I had to rent from a local national they ran into the same problem you are. So what they did was ask me for a deposit last month's rent and the phone number and email address to my chain of command. They would call make sure I was a good soldier that had no huge financial issues and if everything was okay I got the place. You can do the same thing. Getting a phone number to this persons chain of command is the key. If they are late on rent just call up this person's boss and you'll have the rent in no time. But also I would get a copy of orders and let them know that you require notice as soon as they get pcs (permanent change of station) orders. This way you can find a new tenant before they move out. Hope this helps. I was active army for 11 years so if need any more information just let me know.