Rent Payment in Advance

[Spencer Harvey]

I’m curious to see what other things about this...

I have an applicant who is interested in a rental property I own. They are moving from out of state due to a job relocation and selling their current home. They wanted to get a feel for the area (WI) and are planning to wait a while to purchase a home here.

One of the two filed for bankruptcy in 2017. Everything else appears current in the background check and has a salary 4.8x higher than monthly rent. The lease is going to be for 6 months in order to accommodate them trying to find a home to buy, as well as setting myself up for a more advantageous time for leases to start and stop (June).

What are the drawbacks of having them pay for the full 6 months rent up front? I usually deny anyone with bankruptcies, so my thought was to have them pay up front and I wouldn’t have to worry about non payment. They both agreed to do so.

Any input would be appreciated!

[Nathan Gesner]

@Spencer Harvey I can't answer this without knowing every detail of their application. Assuming everything else looks good, I would probably approve them with a deposit equal to two months of rent. Taking rent in advance doesn't actually protect you because they could still break the lease and you would legally have to return any unused rent money.

I prefer a deposit because it doesn't have to be returned until they are out, lease is terminated, and unpaid balances are paid.