Need your advice in picking a tenant

[flowerofsun]

Hi Guys, I am a new be...
I need your advice on picking a tenant...
nobody has pets, nobody smokes, no drugs...
Both will sign a year lease and possible will stay for 2 years..

1) 45-47 year old single guy who works for a company and rented out his big place for 3 k/month which only covers his mothgage. He wants to move in into a smaller rental, my rental, which is 1k/mo
Pros: no kids who will draw on my walls and plug toilets
Cons: my rent is dependent on performance of his rental place. If his tenants move out or dont pay then it may affect me because he may decide to move out or not pay me...

2) Young cute family with two kids, one is an infant and one is 4 years old...Both work and can clearly afford the rent...
Pros:two incomes
Cons: kids probably will plug toilets and draw on walls..


Who would you pick? would you take a risk with a one income guy?

[bobechs]

Pick the one with the bodacious ta-ta's.

Whichever one that is.

[flowerofsun]

Pick the one with the bodacious ta-ta's.

Whichever one that is.

I thought I was asking financial gurus on this forum...
Hm...I am kind of disappointed...

[Primm]

I would go with the family. Couple of reasons. As a former family with young kids renting, we found we seemed to be at the bottom of the pool of tenants when it came to desirable properties (i.e. not under flightpaths or next to freeways). At our last rental before we bought this house we had four boys, initially kids then teenagers. We quite literally left the house better than when we moved in. We were there for 9 years in the end, paid rent on time every month and painted the house (inside) with paint the landlord supplied in exchange for a temporary rent reduction. Buy-in from your tenants and the ability to treat it as their home and not just a house are really key.

PS Our toilets were never blocked. And nothing was drawn on the walls.

[Cyaphas]

Hi Guys, I am a new be...
I need your advice on picking a tenant...
nobody has pets, nobody smokes, no drugs...
Both will sign a year lease and possible will stay for 2 years..

1) 45-47 year old single guy who works for a company and rented out his big place for 3 k/month which only covers his mothgage. He wants to move in into a smaller rental, my rental, which is 1k/mo
Pros: no kids who will draw on my walls and plug toilets
Cons: my rent is dependent on performance of his rental place. If his tenants move out or dont pay then it may affect me because he may decide to move out or not pay me...

2) Young cute family with two kids, one is an infant and one is 4 years old...Both work and can clearly afford the rent...
Pros:two incomes
Cons: kids probably will plug toilets and draw on walls..


Who would you pick? would you take a risk with a one income guy?

I'd verify the family has intentions of staying in the area for more than 2 years and then take them. The other guy to me is a much larger risk account of his obvious liability and personal freedom. The family is very likely to not want to move out and has dedicated income. I don't think the kids really factor into it too much if your deposit is where it should be.

[Drifterrider]

Things to remember.

Kids (or adults) block toilets, it is their cost to unblock (not yours).

Kids (or adults) draw on walls, it is their cost to clean/repaint.  That is why you collect a security deposit.

What does your gut say?  Go with that.

[arebelspy]

I would, due to potential legal ramifications, be picking the first one that completed/turned in their application, assuming they meet their requirements.

If they both meet (as I would assume, since you're trying to decide between them), I'd be taking the one that applied first.

No other information is needed past "they were the first applicant to meet my requirements."

Using your "gut" is not a good way to conduct business.  Unlikely you'll be called on it, but it happens, and isn't worth the risk.  If they meet your requirements, you should be happy with them,

so who cares about any other applicants?
Doing otherwise just opens you up to fair housing complaints, discrimination allegations, potential fines, jail time, etc.  Not worth it, and bad practice.

Good luck!

[Another Reader]

You are opening yourself up to fair housing complaints.  Your criteria cannot include the potential behavior of the kids.

I agree with Eric over at nononsenselandlord.com, who also participates in this forum.  Have a list of behavior requirements based on criminal and financial standards, and apply it equally to all applicants. Credit score has a lot to do with the willingness to pay the rent and pay it on time and implicitly evaluates tenant attitude.  Set a minimum and stick to it.  The first applicant that meets your requirements gets the property.

[Drifterrider]

Some of you must own rentals in states that afford the tenant more rights than the owner or you are afraid of being sued.  Discrimination is not illegal.  Unlawful discrimination is illegal.  There is a difference.

If all things are equal, I go with my gut feeling.  YMMV

[arebelspy]

Some of you must own rentals in states that afford the tenant more rights than the owner or you are afraid of being sued.  Discrimination is not illegal.  Unlawful discrimination is illegal.  There is a difference.

If all things are equal, I go with my gut feeling.  YMMV

Of course discrimination is legal against a non-protected class (I discriminate against smokers, for example).

And when one group includes children, which it does in this case, there's a risk of that discrimination being unlawful.

If all things are equal, I go with the first applicant who meets my criteria.  If HUD comes knocking due to a complaint, and your reason was "gut feeling," I'd be worried for you.  And, like I said, if they meet your criteria, that should be good enough.  If it isn't, raise your criteria.  But don't pick and choose between tenants, because even a hint of discrimination isn't worth it (even when you aren't discriminating, because you had no idea they were 1/16th[whatever race] but they claim that's why you didn't rent to them, and all you have to say is "gut feeling").

By all means, do whatever you want.

But I certainly wouldn't advise others to act that way.

[not_a_trex]

flowerofsun, what are your financial requirements to rent this apartment?

Does anyone use criteria that does not discriminate against protected classes and would have ruled out either of these tenants? If you do, why do you have it in place?

[Drifterrider]

Some of you must own rentals in states that afford the tenant more rights than the owner or you are afraid of being sued.  Discrimination is not illegal.  Unlawful discrimination is illegal.  There is a difference.

If all things are equal, I go with my gut feeling.  YMMV

  If HUD comes knocking due to a complaint, and your reason was "gut feeling," I'd be worried for you. 

1.  HUD isn't coming.
2.  I don't have to explain my choice.  If you think you have a claim, pursue it.  The burden is on you.
3.  My family has owned rentals for 60 years.  We have never been sued.
4.  We have sued a few people.  We always won.
5.  Our longest term tenant has been there 24 years.
YMMV

[arebelspy]

Some of you must own rentals in states that afford the tenant more rights than the owner or you are afraid of being sued.  Discrimination is not illegal.  Unlawful discrimination is illegal.  There is a difference.

If all things are equal, I go with my gut feeling.  YMMV

  If HUD comes knocking due to a complaint, and your reason was "gut feeling," I'd be worried for you. 

1.  HUD isn't coming.
2.  I don't have to explain my choice.  If you think you have a claim, pursue it.  The burden is on you.
3.  My family has owned rentals for 60 years.  We have never been sued.
4.  We have sued a few people.  We always won.
5.  Our longest term tenant has been there 24 years.
YMMV

By all means, do whatever you want.

But I certainly wouldn't advise others to act that way.

[Another Reader]

Next up will be the disparate impact of credit scoring.   Think about that one for awhile....

[arebelspy]

Next up will be the disparate impact of credit scoring.   Think about that one for awhile....

Yikes. 

[Cyaphas]

In the US, if you have 3 or fewer rental homes, the Fair Housing act doesn't apply.

https://www.justice.gov/crt/fair-housing-act-2

Sec 803 - (b) - 1