Last week I showed Alberto a rental home in one of the scariest neighborhoods of Phoenix I had been to in a long time (40th Street and Broadway for those of you familiar with the area). Writing how I got to this point in the first place would take up 12 paragraphs. Here's the essentials:
Alberto came recommended from someone who was working with another agent in my office. This other agent has done numerous favors for me in the past. But, I wouldn't have agreed to show this place if I had known the neighborhood in the first place. And, neither would the other agent.
Alberto, who was very nice and seriously overwhelmed by the moving process, was in a bind. He had lived in the same home for six years. Last Thursday he found out his landlord was a tad late on his payments and the home was going to foreclosure on Friday (the day he called me). He had until September 1 to move.
The property in question was really a town home that had been vacant since April. The landlord was offering a "move-in special." And no, I hadn't put two and two together before I went over there.
This modest town home was one of several in a complex heavily laden with debris on the road, graffiti on the walls and bars on the windows. The property itself had a view from the front door that faced Interstate 10. That is, once you got past the six locks on the front door. Yes. Six. And, when I say "faced Interstate 10," I really mean the front door was 10 feet from the sound wall. That close.
Alberto and I hit it off pretty well, except my landlord radar was up over a few issues. First, he couldn't describe two of his dogs to me. "Mutts?" I asked. No. "How big?" He wasn't sure. He was sure his third dog was about five pounds and a chihuahua. I was secretly glad I wasn't the landlord on this one.
When I gave Alberto the application for the home, he needed some assistance in filling it out. When I got to the part where I needed his social security number, he and I did this verbal volleyball match about it. Sadly it was 108 degrees in the Arizona sun at the time. I was loosing my good humor. Finally, after several minutes and a frank lecture from me about why the landlord was asking for it, Alberto coughed it up. As an interesting side note, Alberto and I are six years apart and our social security numbers are very similar. That's all I'm saying.
We then went through the entire social security process about Mrs. Alberto's social security number. This time he called her, spoke rapid fire Spanish into the phone. As he hung up, he looked me straight in the eye and said of his bride of 16 years, "She doesn't remember her number."
At this point, I gave Alberto a quick primer on what he needed to do to finish filling out the paper work. I wrote down the words, "photo ID," "pay check stubs," "social security numbers" and "$50 credit application fee." I figured if he was serious, he would find a way to get what he needed to me. If not, this would be the last of our time together.
Alberto did manage to get me the application, complete with social security numbers and photo identification. He forgot the pesky pay stubs and $25 of the credit application.
Not sure what kinds of dogs he owns? The whole social security thing? Not following basic directions with an application? I know how this resonates with me. In Alberto's case, I turned his application in anyway, very pleased I didn't have to make this decision.
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7 comments:
When a person agrees to live 10 feet from the interstate in that type of neighborhood, the landlord doesn't need to be particularly picky and probably isn't. As for the dogs, in the neighborhoods that he will be relegated to live in because of his obvious "memory issues" it's cheaper to move the dogs with you than to have ADT come and move your security system. I'm just saying.
Yeah, I'm with Ernie - I think a fifty dollar application fee, under the circumstances is ludicrous. I can't imagine paying fifty bucks for the chance (and only a chance, because application fees are non-refundable if you are rejected, right?) to live behind six locks, ten feet from I-10. And I know, I'm biased from a renters point of view - how do you ever imagine in a million years renting to quality renters in a neighborhood like that?
BTW, you should take some shooting lessons and start carrying concealed - seeing as AZ finally became civilized again by passing the Vermont style carry law.
We want you to be able to protect yourself if you have to do any more favors for another agent.
It costs me money to run someone's credit, criminal background and eviction searches. I don't make money on application fees. You may think it is ludicrous, but renters should pay it. It is the tenant's job to prove themselves worthy.
Most landlords and property management companies don't take the application fee unless they are interested in pursuing the potential tenant further (me included). Becuase, once credit is run, there is now an inquiry on the client's credit.
The reason Alberto wanted this place is that his daughter goes to a specific school and this was the only place available in his price range in this school area. His choice, not mine. Even with his memory issues and money issues, I suspect if he is approved, he will live there for a long time and take great care of the place.
And, I suspect nobody is messing with his "mutts."
It costs fifty dollars to run the credit? Wow, what a great racket for the credit search companies.
You are such a good landlord. However, you are an anomaly compared to the majority of the landlords out there. No matter if they think you are credit worthy or not, they take your $50! Here in Birmingham the standard is now $65 and if the company is on a subscription (which most companies who have more than 15 units are), they get a fat discount so it is not costing them anywhere near $50 to pull the report. Your situation is different than say me going to an apartment complex to inquire about renting. When I worked as a leasing consultant, we charged $50 to process the application. It cost us $8 to run the credit and background the difference went to the complex and we got a bonus based on the number of applications we took in each month. It's a racket these application processing fees. Not with you - but with most.
I wasn't trying to imply that you asking for a fee to run a credit check was ludicrous. You also have much nicer homes, and I'm sure none of them face a freeway soundwall and need six locks to make the renters feel the illusion of safety.
I was figuring the owner was going to pocket the fifty and not even bother with the check, given how unlikely he was to get a better renter in than Alberto.
I also was figuring, as Ernie has so eloquently expounded on, that most landlords (present company excepted) would ask for the fee with every application whether they ran the check or not. I assumed that was how it worked, seeing as back in the day when I was renting, if the place had a complicated application, it required the non-refundable application fee up front, delivered with the application before anyone had the chance to evaluate it one way or the other.
Thank you Freedom. Eloquently expounded? Very nice. LOL
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