All Forum Posts by: Rhondalette W.

@Rhondalette W. I couldn't help but laugh, because if you are like most especially though that are true to the call that Social Work field will kick in every time whether you want it to or not. You seem to allow you to be bit flexible without making you too soft. You are definitely in a great field which should keep you balanced in this sort of work. I wish you all the best.

The truth is it sounds like he lost the most in this case. You are most likely a much better manager than he is tenant especially if he is seemingly dancing around this whole eviction thing. I don't know about him but there is no way that I would wal with a 7 year old bankruptcy that don't belong to him and has not fought like h×_' to get off his credit report (I can almost smell that all the way over here (LOL) It sounds like you were more than fair and I applaud you on how you handled it.

I think we should also take into consideration that 2008 was the biggest decline of our economy since the great depression, and the middle class was being laid off left and right. Are things like that being taken into consideration or are people passed up all together?

We will take people with bankruptcies if they have a clean credit report for the past 2 years. 

We will people with foreclosures that went a short period of time (6 - 9 months) if they have a clean credit report for the past 2 years.

We will never take tenants with any evictions or if they ever forced a prolonged foreclosure as 1) They have tasted what it is like to live rent/mortgage free and they just might like the taste of that  2) They probably know all of the loopholes and stall tactics in the book as well as every obscure right they have.

Pass on them.

I haven't read the other responses yet, so I apologize if I'm repeating someone else's response...

My view on this is that there are two types of people out there:

1.  Those who consider having a roof over their and their family's head as the single most important thing in their financial life.  

2.  Those who don't.

For those in Group #1, the rent will always get paid, other than in catastrophic circumstances.  For those in Group #2, the rent may or may not get paid before the cable bill.

I like to rent to those in Group #1.  If I see someone with an eviction on their report, I assume they're in Group #2.  And I don't rent to them.

Draconian?  Perhaps.  But, it works for me...

Adding this link to discuss eviction record verification:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/7908...

@Steve Babiak @Account Closed

Let me personally say thank you to all of you who told me to be patient and pass on the tenant with an eviction on his record. I am happy to report that I showed the property to two more families today and one of them has already submitted an application. This family consist of an elderly parent age 78 and her daughter age 41 (who will be taking care of her) and her teenage son age 18 who will be graduating from high school on Tuesday and going to college. I am happy to report that they have NO EVICTIONS, no bankruptcies, okay credit scores, no criminal records, no smoking, no pets.They actually meet all of my criteria. I am so excited! I am glad that I did not select the tenant with an eviction. You all may have saved me a lot of money and headaches. Thank you!

How is the applicants credit and income?  If it is anything less than stellar AND they have an eviction, why take that risk?

What kind of area in the apartment/house in?  If it is in a good area that attracts a better quality of tenant than I would recommend being patient.  I have never regretted being patient when filling a vacant unit.

I understand being patient is easier said than done when you are staring at a vacancy which is the same reason why a lot of landlords compromise their standards and end up with problem tenants.

@Rhondalette W.

I know I am kind of late chiming in. Sorry for the lengthy reply but I thought sharing my story may give you a more broad outlook of an individual occurrence. Having had some years of property management experience, I've learned that you can't box up people and their credential. I do believe in setting standards but every situation is not going to fit in those small parameters. The best thing is to learn how to judge people's character and look at the individual situation. Things are not always what they seem.

If someone used bad judgment or fell on hard times 7 years ago, does his track for the last 7 years since that time stand for nought? 7 years ago, my credit was in shambles even though I made sure my rent was paid on time. Today my credit score is better than ever. I learned in the last 7 years how important it is to have good credit. I learned after being turned away or charged super high interest that I didn't want to live that way anymore. Everyone has a turning point. People and situations change.

This is the great example of what I endured with a false eviction. I pay my rent on time every month and have for many years. In my best efforts, I was screwed. I have a great example. I lived in a college town a few years back and found my roommate in a  looking for a roommate binder in the management office. I fulfilled my lease and when I was moving out, I asked Mgmt to take my name of since I wasn't renewing  but my roommate was. The manager said he only make changes to the leases if neither party renews, the original names and lease stays in tact.  Keep in mind while I was paying rent in DeKalb, IL; I moved to Atlanta and was paying two rents every month on time until my DeKalb lease was fulfilled. Fast forward a couple years later, when I applied to an apartment I was secretly told by the leasing agent that an eviction came back with my credit/background information( I did my due diligence and found out that my former roommate skipped.) Luckily, they approved my application with a slightly larger security deposit. She even sneaked and gave a copy so I could contact the Mgmt company. Long story short, after talking to the Mgmt company and their attorney the case was pulled at the courthouse and an entry was made in the record to strike my name as a defendant. I ran into this situation several times. For some reason unbeknownst me, this eviction filing still pulls up when Property Management companies pull my credit. I keep the court document with me in case there is future trouble. If the leasing agents hadn't told me what was going on and allow me to explain my situation, I would probably be living under a cardboard box. I thank God for the leasing agents that looked out for me and gave me an opportunity to defend the false evictions that should up on my background. No matter what I do I can't seem to get this information of my report because it doesn't show on any of the 3 major bureaus.

I'm confused. You said you decided to DECLINE them. You also said they withdrew themselves from consideration. But as I read it, they decided to cancel their 30 day notice to vacate at their current place because of the extra time it would take to resolve the issue about the record of an eviction. I doesn't appear to me that they have officially withdrawn their application. Am I missing something? If they withdrew their application, send them a follow-up letter thanking them for their interest in the property at ___________ and that this letter is to acknowledge that you understand they have chosen to withdraw their application as of _________ (date).

If they did not officially withdraw their application, then @Steve Babiak is correct about the need for a rejection letter. What that entails will depend on your jurisdiction. However, before rejecting them because of an eviction that they deny has occurred, I would double check my sources. Mistakes are common on credit reports and mistaken identity also can be a factor in eviction listings. Even screening companies can make mistakes. It would be worth it to me, and fair to them, to verify the information they provided in their "Letter of Explanation".  This should be fairly easy to do by contacting the court and contacting the landlord whose name appears on the eviction record.

 If they weren't denied based on credit, then no.

I think you should get the Nolo books for TX landlords:

http://www.nolo.com/products/every-texas-landlords...

It's cheap as an e-book, and it's on sale right now.

They sell the TX lease separately, which you can fill out online it looks like.  No wonder the e-book was so cheap, LOL. I used their CA one, which had it all included in one book:

https://www.nolo.com/products/texas-residential-le...