Prospective Tenant with young dog, might be pit bull...
Hi all,
I currently have two vacancies coming up at the end of August I am trying to fill, both in the same triplex. I showed it to one prospective tenant today, he is very interested, but I have some concerns.
1. He has a bankruptcy in his past but can get a qualified co signer. He says he used his credit card to start his business, and once he got close to the limit they would let him charge ($50k) they upped the interest rates and gave him no choice but to eventually file chapter 11. This was 3-4 years ago and assuming he has been more mature about money since then and paying all bills as he claims and has money in the bank, I don't think I have an issue here.
2. The reason he is leaving his current apartment is his dog. It is a mixed breed about a year old and very well behaved (I had him bring the dog). The current landlord doesn't have an issue, but other tenants do. The dog appears to have some pit bull mixed in, or possibly all pit bull. I have to first re-check with my insurance company to make sure, but they have said before they don't care what breed dogs my tenants have. Assuming the insurance co is ok with it, and when I drop by this guy's current apartment to see how he keeps the place and recheck the dog (maybe he drugged the dog to keep it calm for the visit?), I am still concerned about my other tenants not wanting to share the common area with this tenant and his dog. One other tenant would have to use the common entrance and stairs to their unit, as would this tenant and his dog. The larger unit shares the common entrance and also has an additional private entrance.
Would you rent to this guy? What stipulations would you place? I want a year lease, but maybe month to month with this guy in case there is an issue? I already mentioned the 'pet deposit' to cover extra cleaning and extermination if needed, should I be asking for additional money per month? (My other tenant, who I inherited when I bought the house, pays $20 extra per month for her two little dogs, but no additional deposit was collected)
The other thing I am considering is asking if he'd be interested in the larger unit- about 50% more rent, but he could then have an entrance to take the dog in and out without running into other tenants. He mentioned a friend that might also be looking for a place to rent, and if they are willing to share I'd have two tenants in a unit where I would normally have 4. The other bonus is that the rent from this unit covers the PITI for the triplex.
Any thoughts are appreciated!
Kelly