All Forum Posts by: Delina Ortiz

Hey Lorraine,

Since I work in California where tenants have more rights than owners, we go through a tedious process that ensures the safety of us, the managers, and the owners themselves. Here are all of the steps we take to ensure that we get proper tenants who won't land us in an evictions court:

1. We use Transunion which provides / runs the credit, criminal, and background report for each and every applicant over the age of 18. Once that is received, our operational manager manually checks each report (as to avoid conflict of interest) and looks for indicators of pay day loans, collections, high debt to income, and basically anything else that would suggest future default on a rental payment. Then the criminal and eviction report is checked and the only way we would let a criminal report slide is if there was like a speeding ticket of something miniscule. Even then, we STILL call and question it. We are non-negotiable on evictions and deny all who have one. 

2. After the tenant is conditionally approved through the screening, we do landlord, income, and employment verification. This means that the operational manager calls ever single reference provided and asks questions like, "would you rent to them again", "are they good stewards of the home", "have they ever defaulted on a rent payment", For employment, we would pretty much ask the same things. 

3. Once that is done, we ask for w-2's, 3 months worth of paystubs, or if they are business owners, 1099's / income tax returns. This is to ensure that their income is at least 2.5 times the rent. We also look for signs of forgery and have an expert who scans each document thoroughly.

4. After all of that, we have an approved applicant!!!

Let me know if this help :) Ask all the questions you need answered. I am here to help!

Kindly,

Delina Ortiz

Hey Raymond,

What a great question. I can tell that you are really putting a lot of thought and consideration into your rental(s) and want to start by saying great job! 

Per your question: As a property manager myself, I can see why one would think that opting into a 'lease-less' agreement is a good idea but I must say that I do not recommend that. A lease mitigates risk and allows the owner to have legal recourse when done properly. Although it might slow you down a little when you have big fish to fry, it is safe to say that you are running a business and that this business MUST be protected at all costs. Thus, taking the path of most resistance and doing the due diligence to protect your money will benefit you 10 fold. I hate to be biased but hiring a property manager will relieve all of your stressors about placing a rotten tenant. 

If that is not your cup of tea though, then here is what I would recommend:

KNOW how to deny people and KNOW what red flags to look for. This can be tricky because with every city comes a different demographic of people. Meaning, you have to know what to say and when to say it. There is a lot of psychology involved in avoiding bad tenants, which I am sure you already know. 

Typical things to look for when searching for red flags could be people willing to pay exaggerated amounts of rent ahead of time, or applicants who have an LLC that will "pay for their stay" (that usually means that they have been evicted and want to hide it through the organization). And so much more!!

I hope this answer helps and good luck! 

Best, 

Delina Ortiz

Gotta love J tree!!

29 Palms is the next Marfa and I'd put my money there. Use Airdna to run your numbers. 

Best of luck,

Delina O.