How to report to tenant screening poor performance by tenant approved for renting apartment : ezLandlordForms

G

Gillian R

started a topic over 8 years ago

The tenant went through the screening process and it showed positive results. Once in the apartment he and his partner (I made the mistake of not having her sign the agreement) left of their own accord one month later after not making the rest of the rent payment (another mistake on my part for letting them in without the full months rent) This was a 12 month lease. Is there any way of alerting other Landlords using this service to be very careful of renting to these tenants? The tenant listed only as an occupant lied profusely about sending the money and had a ton of different excuses.

S

Susan P

said over 8 years ago

There is a tenant black list website that you can report them too, unfortunately it is only as helpful as the people the use it. Word of mouth also works very well!

G

Gillian R

said over 8 years ago

Thanks Susan. I did not evict the tenants for non-payment. I did use the letters in the back office of EZLandlordforms as soon as the payments were not made by the 1st of the month. Several follow up letters one after the grace period and then another near the end of the month at that time also requesting the other smoking tenant to complete a rental application and tenant screening to be put on the lease. The smoking tenant was also disguising their smoking by burning incense in the unit, an additional problem for the other tenants... the response to that when asked was that it was a religious practice she had because she was a pagan.... my response can you ask you other church members if there is something else that can be done instead of burning incense... response oils but too expensive. "I now have in my contract no burning of candles, incense or oils." I did have another incident in another complex when purchased there was a tenant who had lived there for 10 years and burnt oils, the smell was entrenched into the apartment. Fortunately, we did not have to evict as they moved out of their own volition. The responsible tenant was taken down by the lies from the other tenant. We were very fair expecting at every turn that they were going to make good on their signed agreement and in a sort of way they did by leaving then letting us know he had moved out. I have just read (after searching "tenant black list") that some of these databases are unfair for the tenants because they keep the information forever. In hindsight it was my mistake on the day of the lease signing they paid the deposit, paid for a garage and had half of the rent. I am pleased I had them pay a full months rent for the deposit and that I took the funds off the garage first and the rest was what was left for rent owing. The mistake was I gave them the keys without the full months rent. I will also make sure from now on that each tenant go through the tenant screening process and not accept them if they won't complete the hard copy application and perform the online screening. The tenant who did perform the screening had a credit score of 751. The red flag was he reported less than $50.00 in the bank account. Experience teaches. The other occupant urgently wanted to move in... definitely patience is a virtue and prior investigation and tenant screening is super important and if it doesn't feel right it probably isn't. I gather there is no way to report to the credit bureau without it going to court and that makes sense because the tenant has rights also. Thank goodness for these "lease agreement forms on Ezlandlordforms" I believe they saved the day. They were just enough to make them see the error of their ways and hopefully won't be a burden for any other Landlord going forward. I would much prefer settling out of court.