Vetting tenants

beatlesfan3333

Hi there, I am planning to rent my house out shortly. I have never done it before and need to know how to vet new tenants. What should and shouldn't I ask them? Do I ask for references during their visit or when I agree to take them on as tenants? How many prospective tenants would you recommend seeing? What questions should I be sure to ask and are there any questions I should be sure to avoid? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated as I am new to all of this, thank you.

the world wonders

beatlesfan3333 wrote: »

What questions should I be sure to ask

What is your occupation? Where are you employed? How are you going to afford the rent? Where did you live before? How long were you there? How many of you are there? Do you have any pets?

and are there any questions I should be sure to avoid?

You should not ask any questions relating to the kinds of discrimination forbidden by the Equal Status Act i.e. gender, civil status, family status, age, race/nationality, religion, disability, sexual orientation, membership of the Traveller community.

Arbiter of Good Taste

I would also ask for employer and landlord references. Specify that in the ad so that they bring them with them to the viewing or at least are in the process of getting them.

Ensure that the references include a phone number so that you can ring to verify. And I would also ensure that the landlord reference specifies the rental address. Better yet if the LL reference is from a letting agent. At least then you can be sure they haven't gotten a mate to draft something.

beatlesfan3333

That's great advice guys, thanks!

murphaph

Much better than a reference from their current landlord is one from their last but one landlord. He is much more likely to spill the beans about a problem tenant.

mistress_gi

I would add a call to the landlord reference, they may be more at ease talking than writing it down!

the_syco

A months rent and the deposit up front.

NEVER EVER rent to someone who doesn't have both. Sob stories, etc, will leave you out of pocket. If they can't pay now, they'll probably be unable to pay in the future, and then best of luck removing them then.

hfallada

Generally OP you can tell if you someone is issues within a few mins of meeting them. Germans tend to the best to rent to. They are reasonable clean and know what is expected of them as a tenant. Not partying and paying rent on time is standard and not a bonus like some Irish tenants seem to think( my parents have been countless times that tenants thought they were excellent tenants are their rent was only late a week max). But Germans tend to expect things to repaired nearly ASAP. But they come from a country were most people rent and know what is expected from them.

If you are in Dublin. Try to get someone working IT or in IFSC. Their jobs are so demanding they dont have time to cause issues

Victor

hfallada wrote: »

Germans tend to the best to rent to.

hfallada wrote: »

not a bonus like some Irish tenants seem to think

This is probably stereotyping too far. There are many counter-culture Germans where you might find the exact opposite.

Moderator

braddun

make sure they have decent bank balance

Eldarion

braddun wrote: »

make sure they have decent bank balance

Ah this old chestnut. I completely understand the reasoning but something about it just doesn't sit right with me at all.

Tarzana2

murphaph wrote: »

Much better than a reference from their current landlord is one from their last but one landlord. He is much more likely to spill the beans about a problem tenant.

I'd never go to my next to last landlord to ask them for a reference. I'd get a good one from them, we had a good relationship, just the thoughts of hassling someone like that, gawd no. In fact, they might even give a subconsiously slightly negative one for having been bothered.

If you look for bank statement, expect them to be redacted.

conorhal

If you're a good judge of character then all the references and bank statements in the world can't beat a cup of tea and an informal chat to get a sense of the person.
I even know one amatuer psychologist that would put down coasters (that he never used himself) and a plate of biscuits with a solitary choccy one on it just to see if the prospective flatmates were the kind of messy selfish feckers that wouldn't use the coaster and scarfed the last chocolate biscuit... :pac:

seventeen sheep

the world wonders wrote: »

What is your occupation? Where are you employed? How are you going to afford the rent? Where did you live before? How long were you there? How many of you are there? Do you have any pets?

The bolded one, while one to try to suss out, is not something you should ask outright, in my opinion! If I've told someone my occupation and where I'm employed, that should be enough to make it clear whether or not I can afford the rent.

The other questions can be asked as part of casual conversation, even on the phone before you meet the tenant (e.g. if the number of people or the question of pets was a dealbreaker, no point in wasting everyone's time in bringing them for a viewing!)

braddun wrote: »

make sure they have decent bank balance

How? By asking for their bank statement?

Most decent tenants I know (i.e. those who are employed and with good genuine work and landlord references) will choose to rent elsewhere rather than handing over such unnecessary private personal documentation, with no guarantee of data protection.

So you're left with those tenants who - for whatever reason - are a little bit more desperate for accommodation. Not a good thing, in my opinion.

ZENER

From experience, beware of glowing references unless you can talk to the previous landlord in person. Had a tenant arrive with a glowing references gushing about them and how they had been wonderful to deal with etc. took 9 months to get them out after they stopped paying rent and sold some of the appliances from the kitchen. The previous LL just wanted rid of them.

Eastern European tenants tend to be good, they work hard and are clean and self sufficient mostly. We've had a lot from Poland and Lithuania and they were lovely tenants to deal with, no silly calls at 3 AM complain that the power has gone due to a local outage and asking what should they do with the contents of their freezer !!

Had other tenants who provided a letter from a fictitious solicitor on headed paper which had obviously been cut and pasted poorly. An address for a solicitor or business without a landline should also ring alarms. Some people will get friends to pretend to be their previous LL or employer.

Consider getting a local agency to deal with it, they have experience with these things and will have a list of prospective tenants.

Ken

Luckysasha

Why not give it to a letting agent. That's what I do. They do all the leg work advertising, showing people the property, vetting tenants, taking care of all the paperwork etc. it will cost you approx one months rent but believe me it's well worth it.

the_syco

Luckysasha wrote: »

Why not give it to a letting agent. That's what I do. They do all the leg work advertising, showing people the property, vetting tenants, taking care of all the paperwork etc. it will cost you approx one months rent but believe me it's well worth it.

It comes down to the EA. Some are worth their weight in gold, but some will take your money, not vet, not care about your apartment, not do anything really. You'll find a good EA by word of mouth.

Mrs OBumble

IMHO you want a local letting agent who only does lettings.

A general purpose EA who does sales as well usually doesn't focus so much on the rentals.

conor.hogan.2

Supply proper full details of the actual property (not a few pictures and a description of the area + "mod cons") on daft/your ad and you will get more and better offers as tenants will offer up more details without you even asking a lot of the details.

Graces7

In 8 rentals in recent years I have never been asked for references and certainly not for my bank details. And it I who vet properties and landlords but mostly properties after some bad experiences. But then I am a single lady of mature years .

pwurple

Most of it has been covered already, but I go through the conditions of the property and watch their reactions.

For example, I tell them the lift has a key to get to their floor, and they will be getting two keys (one each). If they start asking about extra keys... Or how to bypass it, that might be them wanting loads of parties. I don't rule people out for the wrong question, just gauge over all the comments what they are like.

I also ask people renting together how they know each other.

Sometimes you just get unlucky, so make sure your deposit is big enough and if possible give the neighbours your contact number. My biggest rental loss was a couple who took their break up out on my property. Whatever was going on with their relationship had them both very angry. They smashed a place to bits in one evening. Punched holes in walls, bashed down doors, broke every piece of crockery etc. I am still not sure I could have identified them as a problem in advance, they were perfectly wellbehaved for months, were both working good jobs, had rented together before for over a year... then the relationship broke down.

davo10

From day one at interview, be very clear that you do not accept RA and will not in the future if they become eligible. References are essential and I now take 2 months rent in advance, not one so including deposit they are effectively paying the equivalent of 3 months rent up front. Anyone who doesn't like that, I explain that I'm sorry but thems the rules and the next people to view are on the way.

pooch90

Do you take it as two months rent and one for deposit or two months as deposit?
I wouldn't give my bank details to anyone, regardless of wanting to rent the property. Unless they were willing to supply theirs. Our current LL can't afford their mortgage and are selling up, has to work both ways.

mikemac1

If you want the best tenants then have a proper ad.

Too many ads on daft with limited information and the pics are so bad to be worthless. If you don't know about photos and uploading them then get a teenager to do it!

It's a waste of everyone's time for you to be meeting them and them showing up when they aren't going to want your property on 1st viewing

Barely Hedged

seventeen sheep wrote: »

The bolded one, while one to try to suss out, is not something you should ask outright, in my opinion! If I've told someone my occupation and where I'm employed, that should be enough to make it clear whether or not I can afford the rent.
I
The other questions can be asked as part of casual conversation, even on the phone before you meet the tenant (e.g. if the number of people or the question of pets was a dealbreaker, no point in wasting everyone's time in bringing them for a viewing!)



How? By asking for their bank statement?

Most decent tenants I know (i.e. those who are employed and with good genuine work and landlord references) will choose to rent elsewhere rather than handing over such unnecessary private personal documentation, with no guarantee of data protection.

So you're left with those tenants who - for whatever reason - are a little bit more desperate for accommodation. Not a good thing, in my opinion.

How about if the land lord asked you to show him/her in person your previous 2 bank statements to verify that you were a performing tenant in your last residence?

seventeen sheep

Barely Hedged wrote: »

How about if the land lord asked you to show him/her in person your previous 2 bank statements to verify that you were a performing tenant in your last residence?

Still, no. I don't want my landlord to know the ins and outs of how much I earn and where I spend my money. It's frankly none of their business.

I am in a good permanent job, and I have excellent references.

I have moved house several times in the last decade in high-demand areas. I have always - every time - been given first choice for any property I've ever viewed.

If excessive demands were made by a landlord - e.g. an extra months rent, or access to my bank statements - I would politely say no and move on to the next property on my list. Thankfully this has never been an issue for me so far.

By enforcing these demands, all a landlord is doing is alienating the "best" tenants who have their choice of the market, and settling for those with less options. It's really not very clever.

Personally if I was ever renting out a property id want to being doing everything myself and wouldn't be involving a letting agent. I'd want to vet the people and I'd want to personally be carrying out inspections. That's leaving aside the fact you have to pay an agent also.

Asking for reference is fair and asking for one months rent as a deposit and the first months rent upfront is fair. Asking for two months rents and a deposit is going too far as its a fair bit of money to ask people to hand over. Asking for bank statements is ridiculous, a LL shouldn't even be allowed to asked for them.

Barely Hedged

seventeen sheep wrote: »

Still, no. I don't want my landlord to know the ins and outs of how much I earn and where I spend my money. It's frankly none of their business.

I am in a good permanent job, and I have excellent references.

I have moved house several times in the last decade in high-demand areas. I have always - every time - been given first choice for any property I've ever viewed.

If excessive demands were made by a landlord - e.g. an extra months rent, or access to my bank statements - I would politely say no and move on to the next property on my list. Thankfully this has never been an issue for me so far.

By enforcing these demands, all a landlord is doing is alienating the "best" tenants who have their choice of the market, and settling for those with less options. It's really not very clever.

I think what's been proven beyond reasonable doubt and in a common sense analysis of the situation is that references don't work. They're open to wide spread abuse and there's no accountability with them.

If we take what are the current landlords demands or tenants beliefs of what is required, before analysing what you call "excessive", it is one months rent and a work reference. Fair enough, but where does that explicitly state your ability to repay?

If a landlord is renting a 2 bed property in Dublin 2 as an example, receiving 1400 a month and it's valued at 300k. You move in, don't pay rent from day one and it takes 12 months to evict you. How much money do you reckon the landlord will be down? 20k?

Take another transaction involving similar sums of money a tenant might enter into - a loan for say 20k. Do you think the agency providing the credit will be satisfied with around 8% equity and a work reference only?

seventeen sheep

Barely Hedged wrote: »

I think what's been proven beyond reasonable doubt and in a common sense analysis of the situation is that references don't work. They're open to wide spread abuse and there's no accountability with them.

If we take what are the current landlords demands or tenants beliefs of what is required, before analysing what you call "excessive", it is one months rent and a work reference. Fair enough, but where does that explicitly state your ability to repay?

If a landlord is renting a 2 bed property in Dublin 2 as an example, receiving 1400 a month and it's valued at 300k. You move in, don't pay rent from day one and it takes 12 months to evict you. How much money do you reckon the landlord will be down? 20k?

Take another transaction involving similar sums of money a tenant might enter into - a loan for say 20k. Do you think the agency providing the credit will be satisfied with around 8% equity and a work reference only?

Meh. I don't really care.

As a regular renter, I've found the standard to be one work reference (which merely states that X works here in XXX position and has a permanent contract) and one - the most recent - landlord reference. And one months deposit, along with the first months rent.

If someone looked for more than that, as stated, I wouldn't be arsed. I'd go with a different property.

But like I've said, I've always been offered first choice on rentals, even while renting in high-demand areas. I'm a professional person in a permanent job, non-smoker, no pets, excellent references, etc. Plus I guess I probably come across well at viewings (because I actually am a nice, genuine, decent person) so I guess landlords see me as trustworthy. Which I actually really am.

So if they want to bypass me for the next person on the list because I won't give them my bank statements - it's their problem - there are always other houses. But if they end up with a crap tenant, it could cost them a lot more in the long run.

If tenants are willing to provide unnecessary security and information, it's probably because they have something to hide, which more discerning landlords would have already figured out (and declined them as a result.)

murphaph

Victor wrote: »

There are many counter-culture Germans where you might find the exact opposite.

sadly this is true.

It#s in German but a picture speaks a thousand words and you'll note a "Mietnomad" means "rent nomad" and that the article only exists in German. Trust the Germans to at least call a spade a spade with these leeches.

Barely Hedged

seventeen sheep wrote: »

Meh. I don't really care.

If thats the quality of your response to a comparative example that tries to address the concerns you have about data protection and excessive demands, your concerns were just populist nonsense in the first place or youre either very immature or naive about the situation faced when vetting all tenants.

seventeen sheep wrote: »

As a regular renter, I've found the standard to be one work reference (which merely states that X works here in XXX position and has a permanent contract) and one - the most recent - landlord reference. And one months deposit, along with the first months rent.

If someone looked for more than that, as stated, I wouldn't be arsed. I'd go with a different property.

But like I've said, I've always been offered first choice on rentals, even while renting in high-demand areas. I'm a professional person in a permanent job, non-smoker, no pets, excellent references, etc. Plus I guess I probably come across well at viewings (because I actually am a nice, genuine, decent person) so I guess landlords see me as trustworthy. Which I actually really am.

Thats great for you in your situation but what about the vetting of tenants in general. Do you think every tenant is exactly the same as you?

seventeen sheep wrote: »

If tenants are willing to provide unnecessary security and information, it's probably because they have something to hide, which more discerning landlords would have already figured out (and declined them as a result.)

This makes absolutely no sense??? If theyre hiding something theyre more willing to show you official documentation to prove theyre credit worthy tenants??? If youve got nothing to hide, you wouldnt mind showing that youre credit worthy. You dont seem to be grasping how the landlord would interpret this situation