Concerns about Prospect's employment

[Jackie Liu]

Hello BP members, I have a prospect who has applied for rent for one of my SFR rental but during my processing of the applicant. I found the new job the prospect was hired for (Provided me with a job letter stating the rate and date started as Sept 30) at the end of last month, shows that the LLC the prospect works for has been administratively dissolved a few months back. The prospect primary job is in apartment property management, but that job doesn't cover our 3.5x income requirement, the prospect has picked up 2 additional jobs that were really recent like this month and last month and one of them is the one I'm currently talking here about. It would bring her income just a bit over the 3.5x requirement but don't know if I should consider this prospect with those recent jobs.

[Nathan Gesner]

Deny.

Part of my screening process is to check the length of employment. This person has three jobs, all new, at least one of them sounds sketchy, and the income isn't enough to support the rent. It sounds like you're working really hard to make this work for them instead of measuring them against hard standards.

I recommend you establish clear screening criteria. What's the lowest credit score you will allow? Do you check Landlord references? Do you verify their income? Do you know how to read the credit/criminal background? What if they have collections or judgments? What if they just started their job last week?

Here's a detailed guide on how to screen applicants: Application Screening Guide