I call them “professional tenants”, and although true and very disappointing, they are hard to distinguish from the real deal. Often well dressed and spoken, willing to accommodate various requests, pay fees and sometimes even with decent credit. As a licensed Realtor, I am not offering any legal advice, however here is the process we use for each and every tenant screening process, to prevent these PT’s:

1. Run their credit and background check, and do not accept theirs. If they are willing to go through the process and pay the $30-$50 fee (per adult), you’re heading in the right direction. We use mysmartmove.com which for $30 does credit and background via TransUnion in one shot, it is a free service for the landlord, and only requires the tenant’s email address.
2. Request a hard copy application to identify how many people, pets, cars, etc.
3. Request 2-3 Months of employment pay stubs to verify employment and amount of income. Tenants will often fluff the monthly amount and note most payments are bi-weekly, so do the math.
4.If you are not 100%, but tempted, offer a 6 month trial month-to-month agreement which would allow you to break lease with 30 days notice (in IL, not sure about other states). If they prove themselves, you can sign them to a longer lease or keep M-2-M status. Remember, just because someone doesn’t sign a 1 year commitment, doesn’t mean they will keep it, so risk is minimal.
5. Always request a cashiers check for 1st month’s rent and for the security deposit to ensure that funds are secure prior to move in.
6. Pets – if you agree to allow pets, collect a pet deposit separate from the “human” security deposit. You can agree to refundable, non-refundable, but ask good questions about the type of pet, and how many. If someone says they have 2 dogs but are willing to move in without them – BEWARE, as 9 out of 10 times these pets will start coming around, and not too many people are willing to part with their pooch. Same applies when someone has 2 pets and is willing to just move in 1….request pet deposit upfront and make it refundable if no pets move in.
7. Call the references and do additional research especially if previous landlord was a family member as they will say what ever helpful for their family.
8. Arrange for Auto-Bill Pay that many banks offer today to automatically withdraw funds from their account on the 1st of the month, or date you mutually agree to.
9. Check them online, Facebook, etc to see what they like to do, post, etc.
10. Meet them in person, ask good questions, make assumptions based on your own experiences, and most of all, use your gut.
11. If someone offers to send you a cashier’s check, especially out of the country, under the premise of a job transfer to the US, and asks that you deposit it toward security deposit, and mail them the difference – this is a SCAM.

A tenant / landlord relationship is a financial relationship between complete strangers. Although there are plenty of slum lords and professional tenants, there are also many wonderful people that have suffered due to the economic crisis and can be great tenants with credit blemishes. It is important to establish mutual trust, confidence and outstanding communication. Good luck!

Mario Bilotas | Managing Broker
Four Daughters Real Estate

Landlords beware in California!

San Diego, Imperial & Los Angeles counties for the following people :
Isabel Moran & Charles Howard

Professional movers? Perhaps. They sign a lease and pay for the first few months & then stop paying all together. Living rent free until hit with another unlawful detainer or lock out by police! Truly sad that these types of people exist actually! And then they move on into your place pulling the same type of scam…

A vicious cycleH

Regardless of whether you are buying or selling, I would highly recommend Mario to help you in this life changing move. I could not have asked for a better realtor.

Thank you Mario!

Some people (buyers), however, ask to view a home without an agent, to simply be nice to their agent. (huh?)
Should a home buyer be driving around areas they like, while their Realtor is on other appointments, out of desire to view the home, but guilt of burdening their agent to be in two places at the same time, the entry without the agent may come up.

Although with good intentions, that arrangement carries risk and needs to be turned down. For 1, the buyer doesn’t carry Errors & Omissions Insurance, in case something went wrong – dog in the house bites, electric fire, neighbor calls Police….they are not authorized nor protected. 2ndly, they aren’t licensed thus held to the legal, moral and ethical standards (subject to loss of real estate license, etc) which could only lead to other potential problems.

Anyway you look at it, its a lose / lose and if the home is that great, its worth the wait. (Thanks for commenting Mark)