Applications for Mid Term Rentals

[Kathy Kifer]

Hi all,

My first post in this group. :)

I manage my own long term rentals. Part of my process is to email or hand the potential tenant an application to fill out (with pen) and they will either scan and email back to me, or hand it back. That application also has a form they sign authorizing me to ask for their credit history to be pulled thru SmartMove/Transunion. 

I've become confused with all these Mid Term rental "tutorials". I'm not seeing anyone mention sending an application. They seem to go from making contact with the potential tenant to pulling the credit, and if good, sending lease. I haven't paid for any of the Furnished Finder forms yet, but I'm not positive an application is part of the package. Am I missing something here?

For those of you that have Mid Terms and do send an application, is it all electronic or is asking these mid term tenants to print, fill out, and scan back, an ok practice? I don't want to come across as a dummy! LOL. The application that I use is very thorough, asks for occupation, who will be living there, cars, etc. I use Docusign for my leases, but docusign with that application with the formatting gets to be a mess.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

[Bonnie Low]

I don't use an application with my MTR guests. I DO use the background check feature available through the Furnished Finder affiliate, Keycheck. It provides a criminal, eviction and credit score check. It's inexpensive and it's very fast. Typically I will have some back and forth discussion with people who inquire about our properties. The typical 'what brings you to this area, what do you do for a living, anyone traveling with you, pets, etc' and then they usually want to know about the neighborhood and the proximity to hospitals, universities, recreation etc. By the time we've had that conversation I have a pretty good feel for them and then we move foward with the background check, lease agreement and then deposit(s). You always run the risk of having a terrible guest. That happens in long term, short term and midterm. It's almost inevitable so do what you feel most comfortable with.