Landlord Basics: Which Applicant Gets a Lease?

By E-Renter Tenant Screening
Posted on February 7, 2013 under Rents and Deposits, Screening and Background Checks | Be the First to Comment

If you’re like many landlords, you often have more than one qualified tenant wanting to sign a lease. Let’s assume you’ve already gone through your standard process: application, application fee, tenant background screening and tenant credit check, verifying employers and income, and checking references. Now you have two or more approved prospects, and only one vacant unit.

What do you do? Here are a few guidelines to help you decide:

• Who wants to move in first? Each day your unit is empty, you’re losing money. We give extra points to the tenant whose move-in date comes first. How do you know? Hopefully, you’ve either had this conversation at some point in the process, or your lease application contains the question, “When do you want to move in?”.
• Who has the security deposit and first month’s rent ready? Obviously, it’s a good thing to have all your prospective tenants ready to pay you rent and deposit, but this isn’t always the case. If any approved prospects need some time to come up with the money, move on. And cash is always nice. Let all your applicants know that you will continue accepting applications and showing the unit until the first month’s rent and security deposit are paid.
• Don’t give in to your emotions. You may hear that a prospect can’t pay the security deposit until they move out of their current place. You may hear that they need a week or two to get the rent and deposit together, but they definitely want the unit. They might be nice people, and excellent tenants, but… don’t let them get the upper hand. Don’t forget that he or she may not get the deposit back for awhile, and may not get it all back. So they need to be able to come up with full rent and security deposit for you.
• Be realistic. If a good prospect is looking at your vacancy on the 25th of the month, and want you to hold it until the 1st, it’s not likely you’ll have anyone else ready to move in before then. You can always ask for a deposit to hold the place, and convert it to the security deposit. Adjust your procedures when it makes good business sense.