there is a large Hispanic population here and in general my rentals are priced above the price point where they are looking. However today I showed a property and gave the applications to a mom and dad where the kid was doing all the translating.

I am not sure if they will complete the application but they were asking questions like what if they don't have a SS# for the credit check and will a tax ID number work and what if they don't have credit and will a copy of passport work instead of driver's license.

So my question is how do other landlords evaluate applicants that may fall outside of your normal screening methods. Or how would you evaluate in this situation. thoughts please.

I don’t accept them. I made a mistake by accepting a

I don’t accept them. I made a mistake by accepting a

I don’t accept them. I made a mistake by accepting a

I accept them all the time. You can use a TIN to screen if they don't have an SSN. You can verify income with bank statements.

I've had two groups from PR rent from me (one is still there now). Both fine, keep the house very clean, pay on time. Both however could communicate in English.

I get applicants occasionally who just arrived from other places -- South America, Haiti. I'm not really comfortable renting to someone where I can't do a background check or find anything about them though--they could have a serious criminal record in the other country and you would have no way of knowing that.

Years ago, I had a Spanish-speaking guy who was interested in a 2/1. One of his adult daughters was the translator. It was him, and his wife, and their five kids. And, um, maybe his two parents would visit him from Mexico for a few months at a time. And maybe his brother would be there, too. But ultimately, there were about 10? 12? people they were looking at cramming into my 1300 sf house.

I was very polite. "No problem! Here's an application. Please go ahead and write down the information on everyone who's over 18." The man, his wife, the adult daughter, and the extended relatives. That made them very uncomfortable.

"And, I'm going to have to verify income on everyone," I said to the principal guy-- through the translating daughter. "How much do you make in a month?"

"It varies."

"No problem! How about if you give me copies of your last five or six paystubs, and we can see what it averages out like?"

"Well, I don't actually get a paycheck. I get paid in cash."

"No problem! How about if I get in touch with your employer? That way, he can check his records. It should be easy for him to print out what you've made, year-to-date, and we can get an even better idea of what your income looks like."

"...Can we take this with us and fill it out at home?"

"No problem!"

I never saw them again. :) That's what it looks like when it's a group of people you don't want. ;)

I once had a mom, dad, adult son, and adult daughter come apply for one of my houses. The mom and dad had no English; the son and daughter were able to translate. Their only income was their dad's Walmart income. I told them they screened fine, but I needed to see more income. If someone else could get a job and contribute to the group's income, that would be great... Normally, I say that, and nothing ever comes of it. But the son went out and got himself a job at the local factory a few days later. By that time, the house rented to someone else. But fast-forward a year or two, and they applied again. The daughter had gotten married and moved into a new house, and my rental happened to be the house next door to hers. So mom, dad, and son have been great tenants for maybe three years, always have their rent paid before the first, and all communication goes through the son.

Earlier this month, I had a 2/1 (the same one at top) and a 1/1 come open. There was a group of three guys from Mexico who have permission to work in the US for 9 months here, then they have to leave for 3 months before being allowed back. They've been doing that routine for years. A girl from my church was the one who said, "Hey, I know these guys... do you have anything available?" Their SS cards had a thing on them that gave them permission to work in the United States, but they had them. She's the one who translates for them, and I run all communication through her. It wasn't until they moved in that I realized they were friends/coworkers with the son that had been with me for 3 years.

The next day, word was spreading pretty quickly through that social circle. There was another friend who was tired of being stacked like cordwood-- 9 in a little mobile home-- and just wanted his own little space. He works here year-round at a factory and sends money home to his wife in Mexico. He's very quiet and tidy. He ended up in the 1/1.

Years ago I had several partners with large multi-family buildings. One partners husband spoke many languages and we used him to translate during showings and doing paperwork for applicants. However, Los Angeles changed the way we do business. If we negotiate in a specific language, the all documents (Lease, applications, notices, etc) had to be in that language. What a bummer.

So instead the attorney's came up with a solution. We would ask the people coming to see and apply at our buildings to bring with them their own translator. They applicant and translator would sign an paper stating they accepted that person and any issues would NOT be our fault.

The problem, it seems to me, is if you're going to relax your standards for this one group of people but not others, isn't that a fair housing violation?

I have had the same exact situations here in southern TX, and I have experienced both extremes of the pendulum bad and good. Just DON'T make the mistake of doing the lease in Spanish. All legal documents must be in English. Our REI group says the burden of translation and understanding is on those who do not speak English. If you translate anything--then everything has to be in Spanish from then on.

All my tenants are Hispanics and they all speak at least some English and I can speak Spanish well enough. I screen all tenants and in the past 6 years I only had one minor problem, but all was resolved. I have a well written month to month rental agreement and go over each and every clause for which they initial each clause. They know I mean business and they are good to me and I am good to them.

On the other hand my good friends (husband and wife) are Colombian (now citizens here) and they are landlords. They have a rental house in an area that not the best, but not the worst. Several years ago they rented to a Central American person and within a year that person sub-rented each room to a male, female and their kid(s). All illegals. Each of these so-called families oldest member had to be 20 years old or less. This all went unnoticed by my friend until one day he went to the rental to do maintenance inside and I was there too. My friend flipped out and evicted them all within a month. The place was beyond filthy.

What I am saying it if you rent to Hispanics, you have to understand that others may move in that are not on your lease. Keep tight control and do inspections. Take control otherwise you will lose control quickly.