I currently require proof of the last 6 months on time rent payments. I got a lot of push back on that but I don’t care. I’m not going to ease up on that. In fact, I may require 12 months.I got a lot of whiny about how that wasn’t fair because……. Covid. No vacancies right now, but eventually I will have one. Now that everyone is reverted to the Covid excuse again, I want to be prepared. I imagine it’s only a matter of time before they get a Covid waiver that excludes them from having to prove they paid their rent.

I'm thinking that (once I have a vacancy again) I'll ask for proof of rent payments or (if they claim that) proof of meeting the 5 CDC requirements & applying for covid rent relief.

I asked one applicant, who was saying I was discriminating on them, for 4 months proof of rental payments. They filed a complaint. So I called a past landlord and asked how did the tenant pay rent. Response, "when they paid, it was in bits and pieces. Sometimes cash, money order or personal check, often bouncing". I then asked could they send me proof, copy of those last 4 payments". The landlord said sure but wanted to be compensated. They asked for $25. I was happy to send them a paypal payment after they emailed proof.

Ask for at least 12 months.

If they can't prove it then they didn't pay it.

Rents,

Totally agree. We have been requiring for some time.

In real life we’re having trouble getting it. We don’t accept handwritten receipts because they are too easy to fake.

We don’t fully believe the current LL for anything.

Account statements showing regular outflow for the rent amount are best but only super organized applicants can generate them.

Many are living with parents, back to work, and ready to move out.

We DO call up court records to see if anything has been filed recently. New filings do not show on credit reports.

So right now it’s not an exact process, just trying to get what info we can from the good applicants and minimize risk.

Coming up next: Congress outlaws requiring proof of rent for the last 6-12 months as a screening tool.

I don't accept any cash payments Nicole. It's too easy for the tenant to come back with "I paid that in cash" if you start down that road. They always ask and the move in money has to be in clear funds so that's a money order or cashiers check, but not cash.

Here in NYS you must give written receipts period. I have one tenant that pays in cash, the other pays half with a money order and half with a DSS mailed check.

One of the many unintended (but easily foreseeable) consequences of the moratoriums is a significant portion of land lords will increase their screening criteria, which will leave out many at the bottom and lower middle range of tenants. "Affordable housing" will become something the Govt has to mandate via rent controls, which will eventually cause even worse problems.

Bureaucrats think they exist to fix problems. Private sector knows they typically create 2 for everyone 1 they....ahem..."solve".

As for me, I was already ahead of the curve on this one a bit thanks to my friends/colleagues Brad 20K, Sisco, and others. I require ACH payments, which requires a bank. The "unbanked" (i.e. people with a horrible records of bouncing checks) no longer qualify.

The simple solution is to increase the quality of your tenants. If your units won't allow that, sell them and buy the kinds of rentals that do. That's really going to be our only option eventually: cater exclusively to clients who have too much at risk to miss a rent payment.

Well said Sid, very well said and spot on. I’ve used ACH payments as a required payment form for a dozen years now, raised my minimum income requirements from 3x to 3.5X but typically am able to find those with 4X.

We have very few vacancies right now, the one vacancy was for a unit that we evicted so we could sell the unit. Turns out the "Tenant" was actually renting for her brother and his girlfriend with bad credit, so they weren't eligible for the CDC moratorium second time around. First time they took advantage of the moratorium and may have to pay the price for perjury on the form.

the timely payment of rents will be a badge of honor among those who did pay. they will be HAPPY to prove it and those who claim discrimination will be alerting you that they are gamers of the system and whiners. in a more sane world we could scream at them "of course i am discriminating! i like tenants that pay me!" "i also decline child molesters and smokers and crackheads and dudes with face tattoo's you dimwit".

Money Orders? cashiers checks? NO NO NO. if those get lost or damaged or whatever the money is GONE for months until the system gets it back to the tenant who never has enough money to cover it. if they want to bring cash...okay. if they want to zelle or venmo...okay.

the absolute rule for my tenants is that they MUST have a checking account like a grown-up. those that do not are shifty schemers or deadbeats. if one cannot get a checking account it is telling of several bad traits. hiding from tax collector, hiding from child support, hiding from prior landlords and judgements...or just a nut that thinks banks are evil.

MAP...i am sure you are correct. the feds will prevent using pmt history as a screening tool. luckily the folks that would benefit from that edict will be easy kills on other application items. credit, proof of a bank account, job history...the steaming piles can try to hide but their stink is always nearby.

We only accept Zelle payments which every major bank is associated with.

We don’t accept cash, checks or MO.

If they can’t work with our program then we move onto the next candidate.

Rosie lets all get insink with this and we can turn the tide.

I start collecting 2 months of pay stub to prove they are working, ss-number and proof of payment from previous land lord record of payment, none of them could produce it...and most of the applicant here in South San Francisco ca. are mostly illegal with no papers at all..also because of covid-moratorium

I think we as a group need to get organized. We are creditors and ought to conduct our business as creditors do. I am looking into rent reporting through this company. I attended a Zoom meeting by the Apartment Owners Association. Basically, you report if the tenants have paid to the credit bureaus. This is the breakdown they gave me:

Here is our pricing breakdown:

$1 per Unit (or door)And $20 per month maintenance fee for 1-25 Units (pricing increases for 26+ units)

So for 2 units total cost would be $20 maintenance fee + $2 = $22 per month.

Also, We specialize in monthly credit reporting on behalf of landlords to accomplish the following:

1. Disincentivize late tenant payments

2. Raise tenant credit scores for on-time payments

3. Handle all tenant credit reporting inquiries

Rosie, one of the sponsors for this site Clearnow, allows rent payments to be reported each month to the credit bureau. And as mentioned above, good renters do want this service as well to improve their credit score. The cost using the sponsor on this site is less than the price quoted above by another company.

For more information, go to DirectRentDeposits.com

patricia[fl], we are not creditors until they miss a payment. rent is paid in advance. the whole point of this discussion is to avoid become a creditor. letting the statements and documentation be the metric we use i good practice and helps us avoid claims of discrimination.

as regards reporting to credit bureaus...i am uneasy attempting to comply with FEDERAL regulations and would be very surprised to hear that the REAL credit bureaus are allowing such. many of the credit scores we see used by those offerig them as a benefit to credit cards are NOT the same fico we use for making credit decision. maybe credit karma and other pretenders have some scheme going on but i'm not willing to be part of their hustle and certainly not at MY expense. i've learned over the decades that a REAL full credit report has all i need to know about folks as long as it has a few years to get the read.

While it may be difficult to consistently report rent payment history to a credit bureau, it is straightforward to report tenant's unpaid debts, including unpaid rent.

Reporting to credit bureaus is not needed for most renters who are looking to qualify for a mortgage. Fannie Mae will do automated underwriting to do automated verification of rent payments starting September 18. They automatically identify recurring rent payments from an applicant's bank statement data. For some reason, Fannie Mae counts consistent payments, but does not or cannot penalize for missing or inconsistent payment. I cannot fathom how that works. The link to the article is

www.fanniemae.com/newsroom/fannie-mae-news/fannie-mae-introduces-new-underwriting-innovation-help-more-renters-become-homeowners.

Some similar services seem to be available to property managers for a fee. I may try them out some day on an applicant for which I am also qualifying in my usual way.

New Jersey just passed a law making it illegal for landlord to report that a tenant didn't pay their rent. The bill is S-3691. Here is an excerpt:

i.1 (1) Consistent with the provisions of 15 U.S.C. s.1681s-2(a)(1)(F), a landlord shall not at any time furnish information about the nonpayment or late payment of residential rent, or failure to pay a rent increase, which accrued during the covered period, or summary dispossess or other court filings or proceedings related to non-payment or late payment of residential rent which accrued during the covered period, directly to another residential landlord, or to a debt collection or credit reporting agency.