Investor · lehigh valley, PA · Member since 2014 · 242 posts · 23 votes
I have a tenant who applied and said they were never evicted. I ran a background and it appears they were 14 years ago. It is a 40 year old single male who will be moving and has no pets. Should I give them the benefit of the doubt or keep looking for someone else? He was really excited about the place but he did lie on the applction about ever being evicted but has cancer and wants to get a nice house for his daughter which he has custody of every other week.
YaY or Nah? He did drive a nice car and was very respectful but his past does not seem good.
Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
8y
@Jimmy S., lying schmying. I don't care about the lying, per se. Applicants lie or mislead all the time. A separated woman might say she's "divorced" when she is still married. I've had that happen more than once. None of you would disqualify her for that.
What we all care about is the eviction.
14 years is a long time and the man would have been relatively young at the time. Still, this is my business and if I see a prior eviction, so far it's always been an automatic "NO" for me. No consideration of other things, just no.
Not because of the lie, but because of the eviction.
Richmond, VA · Member since 2016 · 215 posts · 129 votes
8y
While the eviction was 14 yrs ago, how many landlords on here do you see making deals to get the tenant out that result in the eviction not being filed?
Investor · Manteca, CA · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
8y
Exactly what @Mark H. said...... how many horrible tenantts get virtually "evicted" but it never goes far enough to actually have a legal recorded eviction. Just bail....cash for keys.....I wouldn't be surprised if 75%+ of bad tenant "endings" don't go down as a legal recorded eviction
He lied....knew he had an eviction....he didn't forget it.....he lied about a subject that is very critical in the screening process.
If he had told you 'hey I had an eviction 14 years ago, but here are my last 3 landlords contacts so you can call for references" then I may let it slide once I check his story
So unless this guy is a superstar in every other screening category, ....AND my tenant pool is otherwise junk.....I would 100% pass.....
Specialist · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2018 · 557 posts · 191 votes
8y
I have to agree with the previous posts... I would say no on this applicant.
@Mark H. makes a good point. The report won't show how many times the applicant has been offered cash for keys in order to avoid the eviction process. I would skip on this guy and keep looking for a tenant without an eviction history!
Aurora, CO · Member since 2018 · 180 posts · 166 votes
8y
Devils Advocate
Ask him what the circumstances were. Ask him why he failed to mention. Most people wouldn't think you could go back 14 years.
I came close to being evicted once. Landlord was a flake. He insisted we install a landline phone, AFTER we moved in. (We had cells, which we provided him). When I declined to take on another expense, he filed paperwork to evict me! I went to court, showed that the rent was paid current, negotiated with his atty to pack and depart. (No desire to stay).
Does that show up in a search for evictions? I don't know. But if it does, it shouldn't disqualify me from getting another place.
Realtor · Oakland, CA and a Real Estate Investor with Multi-Family Units and a Self Storage Facility · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
8y
He lied on the application about the eviction so I would say no. I have a policy where if the tenant has had an eviction in the last ten years then I won’t let my PM rent to them. When I ask you about evictions and you say yes but it was 15 years ago then cool with that.