All Forum Posts by: Rob B.

This is definitely a great way to set yourself apart from other landlords. Rent is generally the biggest monthly expense for most renters in the United States, however, when rent is paid on time, traditionally it isn't taken into account unless a landlord has proceeded through the lengthy process of reporting negative payment history (and even then there are still some restrictions). 

Some of this does depend on the tenant's current score (so, if it is a high score already, might not have as much of an effect, but if you have someone in the vicinity of 650 - 710, reporting those on-time rent payments may go a long way). And think about it from the tenant's side: Future landlords would be able to verify that they're a reliable tenant who pays rent on time, (and now they have a credit score to show for it); with a higher score, they can finally sign documents, loans, and policies without the need to find a cosigner; they'll be able to save more money on interest rates and fees when applying for credit cards and loans; etc. - definitely worth considering because, as mentioned above, it helps you to stand out as the landlord too when you let tenants know that they can build positive credit with their biggest monthly expense. @Brent Paul

Hi @Joseph ODonovan - as long as your reason for declining does not violate FHA as a protected class, then yes (but please proceed with caution; as Catherine has carefully noted above you have to be super careful that they do or do not meet clearly outlined qualifications that you've set for your rental - and if what others have said is true about income being added as a protected class in Philly, then you have to keep it open to those with Sec. 8 vouchers; the sec. 8 process is lengthy too). I'll defer to others as far as other advice, but best of luck.

Marc is spot on here. Make sure to pay very close attention to whether or not that language was or was not included within your lease. They did provide 30 days notice but in most instances, breaking a lease this early is grounds for you to hold them responsible for additional months on the lease (again, will need to look back at your actual lease language). I'm sorry to hear that you're dealing with this; my best friend recently had a situation where the tenant up and ghosted on him and he's still dealing with this via our court system. It could be worse but I totally understand this is still not ideal. Probably a good idea to start the search for that next tenant now though. @Jason Avila

As far as self-managing your property there are a lot of great resources out there Michael. Just be sure to keep in mind every step of the rental process + the number of units you'll be managing; once you've set your goals/expectations it makes it a lot easier to make the decision on who to go with. BP has listed a lot of great online tools, and others have mentioned some good ones above, but I'd really press the importance of finding one that's the best fit for what you're aiming to accomplish. And that lease is key; do you currently have a draft lease of your own? Or are you still looking? Might be worth checking out a tool that uses the property's local address to pull in all of the necessary clauses so that your lease has you covered. @Michael Sharp

@Jenna Columbus - definitely here to help answer any questions you might have. The $45 fee is fixed for the full bundle reporting but there are other options as well; it is also worth noting that the applicant can share the application with other landlords on the platform for 30 days (since their credit score is subject to change within that time period), but this makes it so that if you were to deny their application, they'd be able to share that app with another landlord (thus, avoiding the need to pay for additional application costs). 

Hi Syed, I'm sorry to hear that you're dealing with this and I know how frustrating that can be. A personal friend of mine actually just went through this process and I'm definitely in agreeance with what others have stated in regards to filing to evict. In fact, it sounds more and more like the tenant is now squatting so you'll need to take the appropriate steps. Once you've gotten to a point where you're now looking for another tenant, there are definitely some thorough tenant screening options out there to help you mitigate the risk of a similar situation happening again in the future. I hope everything works out! Best of luck @Syed Hussain

Hi Ben! Welcome to BP. It is awesome to see you're starting on this so early (best time to start in REI was yesterday)! Once you do decide to procure your first rental, definitely lean on the BiggerPockets community as a resource; I'll also say that it could be worth considering a shot at a software solution built for DIY landlords (1 - 15 units) to bring some automation to the rental management process (just to make things much much easier for you)! Again, best of luck on getting started and more than happy to answer any questions that you might have about online rent collection options. Welcome to the community! @Ben Lawless

Great goals, drive and work! Love it when I hear a story like this, @Tommy Kerwick Jr. - when you do land those other units, it could be worth considering a shot at a software solution built for DIY landlords (1 - 15 units) to bring some automation to the rental management process, in turn, making things much much easier! More than happy to answer any questions that you might have about online rent collection options. Again, congrats on the successes thus far! Might dip into the vacation rental market myself this year. TBD!

Hi Reynaldo! Welcome to BP. Great work on that first property! It could be worth considering a shot at a software solution built for DIY landlords (1 - 15 units) to bring some automation to the rental management process, in turn, making things much much easier! More than happy to answer any questions that you might have about online rent collection options. Again, welcome to the community! @Reynaldo Santana Polanco

Sometimes payment issues can happen, especially with fraudulent activity becoming more and more rampant; having said that, there are definitely other resources out there that might make more sense for your rental business. It could be worth considering a shot at an actual software solution built for DIY landlords (1 - 15 units); one that helps you to automate your own rental process (ie. compared to other tools, one that helps you to actually get it listed on 10+ major listing sites, allows you to schedule showings, provides you with super thorough tenant screening options, online digital leases which can be customized and help you by breaking out those fees, automated maintenance tracking, and fast rent collection which also offers your tenants the ability to report their positive on-time payments to the major credit bureaus; just another positive reinforcement/added incentive to get them to make those payments on time). More than happy to answer any questions that you might have about online rent collection options! @Alyssa K.