So I have another what to do question. I have an applicant well qualified. He is in the military. He came for a showing alone and like the place .I thought done deal.

I then get the following text from him “I have great credit with PROVEN income to match…… I want to add a co-applicant to my application because I often get deployed and may need them to stay to help with the kids…… he does not have great credit due to a company bankruptcy during Covid causing him to lose 80K income in 2020 but he does have great income now. I want to know how much this weights on your decision. I would hate to pay a $50 application fee just to have it automatically disqualified by adding a co-applicant”.

I then texted back “it will not automatically disqualify you . you will be on the lease and liable right. What I don’t want to happen is him to get dumped on me and you get off the leash using the military cause . Maybe you would be the only Leasee and he would be an occupant. As long as the rent gets paid I do not care who lives there . So as long as you stay responsible for the rent no problem”.

He then text back “Yes I will be liable I thought everyone over 18 had to be on the application so I will send the application today but leave him off as a co-applicant.” FYI my application has my criteria and the statement that everyone over 18 must submit an application.

I text back” normally they do let me think about how I want to handle this but it will not result in a rejection”.

He then text back “the military calls will not apply here…….. I will be at my duty station for a while… I am an officer and have a say about where and when I go”.

Now I am confused . in one text he says “ because I often get deployed and may need them to stay to help with the kids” and in another text he says “because I often get deployed and may need them to stay to help with the kids”. Thoughts

I text back “I want to talk to some of my landlord friends about how to proceed”. So board….thoughts?

My other issue is I don’t want the guy with bad credit dumped on me when the good credit guy uses the military clause to exit the lease. I was thinking just have the military guy on the leases and the other guy is just san occupant. If the military guy wants off the lease, the lease ends. If he wants a place for his daughter, then he has to stay on the lease. The other guy can’t just be on the lease alone. Also concerned about what I view as contradicting statements. Should I ask him about the contradiction. FYI officer has great credit and sufficient income. I have had good experiences with the military in the past. Also I am thinking Ukraine could mean a deployment.

Let me clarify this sentence..... what I meant to say is :

Sounds like he does not have his lies straight to me.

If I would consider this, I'd want to meet everyone involved at the minimum.

Retired military here.

There are assignments when you can choose when you deploy. It is typical to have some look after the kids when you are gone, but that someone is typically a family member. So I am thinking they are implying that there might be more than what meets the eye.

You can always contact his command and get confirmation about his assignment and his deplorability.

If they do deploy, there is always a risk of them using a military clause to get out of the lease.

We cater to military.

As to the deployment question: many officers spend 10 days to six weeks away from their duty stations on a regular basis. This is not a deployment; it is part of their job.

As to the second person, I'm not sure. DEFINITELY get an application. DEFINITELY include "jointly and severally" in your lease.

I think you are confused about a deployment (temporary) vs a PCS - (permanent change of station)

It all seems quite believable to me. It is a good sign that he told you up front.

I would take a full application from the other person & verify everything (of course)

I would never want to knowingly have a resident who was not on the lease, jointly & severally liable.

He is intelligent and thoughtful - he read the application and expects to abide by it by submitting an application for everyone over 18.

Your response may cause HIM to be confused

Well it turns out the "other person" has a full page worth of Failure To Pay Rent charges in the court system. many of them dated before Covid.

Oh turns out the "other guy" had gone through my prequal form process and never got a showing.

Oh turns out the "other guy" had gone through my prequal form process and never got a showing.

My next question...should I just reject him now or make him spend more money first. I have not sent him the link to run his credit report yet. In the link he is asked questions to verify his identity and then he has to pay for the credit report.

Should I cut ties now, or make him spend more $$$ before I cut ties. He is clearly trying to scam me into putting this guy & the guys kids into the rental....

Based on your follow up about "the other guy" having tons of no-pays, you may have already made your decision. But I would still consider renting to him.

Here's the thing: if HE gets out of the lease via the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) lease termination clause, that means both HE and ALL OTHER tenants must fully vacate. He cannot just move and "dump" the person on you. He still must vacate the premises and leave it in good condition, just like any other tenant.

Imagine, for example, if he had a wife and kids. He can't stop paying rent and leave them living there. Nope. All the SCRA does is allow him to terminate his tenancy early with no penalty. It gives him no right to hold your property hostage while people he invited onto the premises continue to live there. It also doesn't give people on the lease the right to stay there after he moves out. The only thing it gives him is an easy, penalty-free way to end the lease. Everything else stays precisely the same as any other tenancy. He can be sued for holdover; he can be sued for damages; etc.. He and everyone else on the lease must still vacate properly and moved out all people and personal property.

So, if you'd rent to him without the guy, you should rent to him with the guy.

No.

If you had received both applications at the same time you would have rejected. It doesn't change that rejection to receive the applications one by one with the bad one added later.

Don't play games with him. Just tell him sorry and move on to the next applicant.

I too am wondering if he is in the military, I am wondering everything about him. In texts he refers to his kidS(plural) , but on application just 1 child. "other" has 4 kids listed on his prequal form.

Laura,

Always answer "Everyone is welcome to apply".

Why would you NOT want the additional person to complete an app, be screened, and sign the lease if OKd?

Me? I want to spend my time on the folks who are ready to rent and do not have drama.

This could easily be a Fair Housing tester so stop talking to them and approve or deny based on their written application with the required documentation.

You might want to put the qualified person on the spot.

You have made your decision, why are you trying to get another application fee?

It would be one thing if they BOTH applied at the start, but, now, you are just a cat playing with a mouse. As for the name and gender not matching, my name is very common among males in a small country elsewhere, yet I'm a female, completely different ethnicity. Then there is Chelsey Manning. Or Living the Dream ( oh, forgot her name! I think that's correct... ) So, gender may be changing.

This is an example of... have criteria, stick with it, or you'll maybe run afoul of fair housing laws. Your criteria already said all adults must apply. And, that second adult was a firm nope. The upstanding person asked, so be decent and don't play games that piss them off.

Yup, reading is fun. So is writing.

" My next question.... should I just reject him now or make him spend more money first. " ( sic) 10:54 AM, by Laura in MD

Doesn't matter one iota if the money the applicant spends goes in YOUR pocket, or Clearnow's pocket or Transunion's pocket. Laura in MD is the one who prompted applicant to spend more money on another credit report. 'Well I did have them run a credit report at applicants cost,' 1:35PM, when at 9:53AM, the information for the decision was already there.

Really Busy…..you think asking applicants to go through the entire rental process before a formal decision is made is abusive and will get tenant advocacy groups upset. Seems just the opposite would be true , a denial before completion of the process would be more open to objections. Interesting thought process you have. But not unexpected

Really Busy…..you think asking applicants to go through the entire rental process before a formal decision is made is abusive and will get tenant advocacy groups upset. Seems just the opposite would be true , a denial before completion of the process would be more open to objections. Interesting thought process you have. But not unexpected

Did I say abusive? Wow! Drama!

I'll reiterate- have criteria, stick with it. The process here seems a little wonky. The applicant even caught that the stated process was being... set aside... And the . " I want to talk to some of my landlord friends about how to proceed.' Too much information, for my taste.

I'n not trying to pick on you, but, I just didn't think you were as loosey-goosey with your screening process. I know the changes to the rental market these last few years have taken a few strange turns, but I thought you were more solidly confident in your process. I will admit, I hadn't had to screen a tenant for awhile, and when I placed a tenant last year, I kept thinking I was missing something. So, before placing my ad, I reviewed the notes from previous applicant screenings, reread notes from how I set things up in the first place. It was scary just because I hadn't been through it for some time, and with all of the moratoriums and increased customer aggression, it was unnerving. I ended up with someone I was confident would work out. We had a major hiccup early on, then got past that. So, I understand its stressful.