How to handle it right?
Please bear with my scenario here as I need some guidance on this specific issue. I am new landlord; and can use your guidance for a rental transaction in Florida.
I have a tenant for my property marketing myself and one applicant submitted application through Cozy; it also required paper application and signature to rental criteria + HOA application. So this is summary of events...
- primary applicant submitted paper application (several fields not filled). Employer contact information incomplete/incorrect. He indicated that there will be other applicant (friend/cousin) as well. No supporting documents are provided (DL, Registration, etc.) and SSN is missing as well.
- friend submits application after a days online after a day.
Several back and and forth for corrections and then based on his checks, income vs. spending more than earning (has traffic / DUI related misdemeanor and criminal tickets; several traffic citation; spending more than it's earning; has considerable debt) , I informed him that I cannot rent him based on what income information and reports I see (this is prior to employment check).
He then decides that his mother will also live with me and then started submitting his application. That again takes more time to apply on Cozy and I find out she has foreclosure on her few years ago on her.
He was saying that his cousin and mother will contribute to rent; so I will be able to afford. While talking to Mom she was I am helping my son get home and then will buy 55+ old house and move out.
During all this, while information was coming in pieces; We verbally agreed security deposit will be two months deposit and he agreed one weekly rent on condition of rest of documentation and application correction to come through and conditional HOA application approval and I will start Lease contract in parallel to expedite remaining process .
Two days passed and he kept sending missing pages on lease, or pages with no signatures ; and even in one attempt sent digital signatures where he signed on his mother behalf by himself. I gave him deadline that I need application corrected/completed (now with three tenants) and sent and lease document signed by 5:00 PM on Thursday. Still did not send application and signed lease. All this took about 2 weeks and still things were not final.
At then end of deadline, thinking if this is causing so much trouble for simple application and with red flags in application he may cause more trouble when he will be in lease, and told him that I cannot wait further go with his application and look for other candidate via e-mail and told him to pick up his initial deposit of $500 along with his application / documentation from my friend agent (where he dropped).
Learning from this self marketing experience, I've listed property with an real estate agent for rental now.
Question is:
Now what kind of written notice of denial I should be sending him in context above to make sure I am legally covered in scenario above? Should I quote his credit report results or incomplete / incorrect information as reason for denial? Or slow response / missing deadline for denial?
Please guide.