Should I rent to this Renter...........

[Robert Gregory]

Hello,

I was wondering what your opinions might be about this applicant. He is from out of state and showed up with his pregnant wife and 2 small kids. Seen like good people. He's starting a new job this week in town so that's the reason he's moving. No furniture, was driving from CA to KY and said he's just starting fresh. He said that his credit wasn't so great 4 years ago when he lost his job and he's rebuilding now. I'm going to do a check on it later. He provided a Job acceptance letter from his new employer showing that he'll make 4 times the monthly rent requirement, which is great. The issue is that I just tried to contact his past landlords and had to leave a message with one but the second one was a disconnected number. He's willing to pay first and last month rent as well as a damage deposit equal to a months rent up front. He also said he would be willing to set up automated payments for rent in the future. With that being said, do you think it would be worth it to rent to him without being able to speak to any previous landlord? This is a condo townhouse for about a $1000 per month.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Aly W.]

Jon K. is absolutely right about checking previous landlords. I've discovered several "landlords" that were actually the tenant's relatives when I checked the tax records, although they never mentioned that up front. Or the owner listed on the tax records didn't match anything the tenant had on their application and they told me the tax records were a mistake. Beware of tenant with no verifiable rental history. And if a 30something tells you they've always lived at home, run.....