I have lived in apartments for the last 25 years, happily. I have filled out many an application, had many credit checks…never been turned down.
GF found a nice little house and spoke with owner as he old tennants were moving out. He seems to like us and he seems nice. We fill out an application and pay for the credit check (standard in California, not sure about otehr states).
But he also wants 3 months of paystubs and 3 months of bank statements. This makes a little uneasy. Seems like a lot info that he doesn’t need.
Anyone rent a house in California (Los Angeles County, in particular)? Is this standard practice?
I’m not in LA county, but this situation does strike me as a bit strange. Usually, if I provide things like pay stubs and whatnot, it’s to avoid the credit check fee. So, it’s usually one or the other, but not both.
If you’re worried about them stealing personal information, black it out with a marker, and make a photocopy.
Hmmmm… Is he by any chance a Chinese guy with a long, wispy white beard? Because our landlord asked for the same, and it was the first time in all my years of renting in L.A. that hat I’ve been asked for that much info.
In most of the places where I’ve rented (several countries), it’s been “one month in advance, one month security” and no requests for documents; in Madrid, I’ve been asked for “permanent contract, one month in advance, two/three months security”, which moves to “contract, two months in advance, three months security” if you aren’t a permanent employee - being self-employed, I got asked for “last three yearly income tax forms, last three VAT forms, copy of your flat’s property records, three months in advance, three months security”… sorry? (I’m renting from a guy who was willing to take “no papers” in exchange for giving him six months’ security and one month in advance)
I once new someone who worked at a high end rental property management company. I remember her saying that paystubs going back a few months was standard for her company (I remember because the story attached to it–she let a prospected renter know she would need to see paystubs–he pulled out a newspaper article and handed it to her. “Will this do?” It was an article about him he just won big with the lottery.)
I’m in California and have rented as well as rented out. This level of checking credit-worthiness is unusual, but can occur. The owner can ask for whatever financial information he wants to help decide on a prospective renter, and you can refuse to provide that information. You just won’t be his tenant, that’s all. If you’re not comfortable providing the requested info, don’t do it. Having been on the owner side I can appreciate the potential nightmare of renting to someone who can’t pay rent down the road and the need to evict.
We’d check out the people, verify employment. They would come to our house, sit at our kitchen table, and we’d chat for a bit, and then sign papers.
EVERY SINGLE RENTER moved into our property and became infected by alien pod people. They would simply walk off a job, they’d move in crazy relatives, and they seemed to think that since we were property owners, we had unlimited money. They paid late, they tried to give partial payments, and eventually, they would stop paying entirely.
They would stop paying the trash bill, and simply SAVE their garbage. From what I found in kitchen cabinets, they ate dirt. Because they didn’t want to take care of the yard, they’d stop watering.
Sounds like this prospective landlord has been badly burned in the past.
~VOW
Well, it’s nearly universal that landlords want their tenants to have income at least 3x the monthly rent, and be steadily employed (or have other regular income), not just a one-shot income this month. (I haven’t seen anybody mention the common 3x rule in this thread yet.) Anyway, they’re verifying that you actually have a recent history of steady income, month after month.
Lately, with so many people out of work and out of their homes, I’m seeing more and more landlords only requiring income 2.5x the monthly rent. (This is in CA.)
One thing I do, as a landlord is ask to see the damage report on their previous rentals. If they can’t provide one, or if it has with extreme issues (holes in walls, brokens windows, fire damage etc), they can rent somewhere else.
I have been burnt… going through a messy eviction right now in fact, but since I started using this technique, I have had much better luck. The messy eviction involves a tennant that said “I am not gonna pay rent. Go ahead and kick me out… it will take you three months!” Little does he know that laws have changed, and that it only takes a month.
I knew of a landlord with many homes to rent. His rule was he got to see where his new tenants were living before they got to move into one of his homes.
Wow, that’s an awful track record. We rented an apartment out for about 12 years, and had five sets of tenants. Every single one was wonderful, paid on time, clean; and one guy who was a hobbyist carpenter made some built-in furniture we still use, very much improving the apartment.
Our last tenant was our favorite, but she moved out because living in an old house aggravated her allergies. There was some passing talk of lawsuits and culpability, but since the law was on our side it didn’t go anywhere, and we’re still good friends. I’m very sorry for your bad history.
To the OP, it doesn’t sound too unreasonable. We did a credit check and personal meeting to vet our renters, but it seems there are lots of other ways to do it.
Huh. I understand why you’d do this, but in my case I’ve never kept previous damage reports. In every case I’ve received my deposit back in full, no damages, and I don’t think I had a “damage report” for any one of them. Maybe something like “no damages, signed landlord” scribbled on a scrap of paper or the deposit check itself
I’m guessing you can get away with this level of background check demands in a scenario where there is high demand for space or you are offering a relative deal.
I could give a rats’ ass about his getting pay stubs etc. if the value of what he is offering is high enough vs the competition. If it’s not a deal I might be inclined to move on.
This must vary by state. I am in Massachusetts and I have no idea what a damage report is . I’m guessing it’s some sort of paper saying how much damage there was to the apartment. Nothing like that is standard procedure around here.
Well even in MA your landlord is required to give you some sort of itemized receipt with your returned deposit. Each damage has to be specifically listed, along with the repair cost. Basically they have to give you a full accounting of everything that was taken from your deposit. But if you don’t have any damages, that receipt can just be “no damages, signed landlord”.
My last apartment was with a large company that did everything by the book and I didn’t get anything except a check for the full amount of my security deposit when I left. It was the kind where you rip the check off the bottom, maybe the top half said something about no damage, I never thought to look, and I don’t think I bothered to save it.
There are tons of privately owned apartment buildings (3-deckers) around here and I never had (or heard of) any kind of damage report offered. Personally I have always just got my full security deposit back so I would have no need for a list of damages. But I have never received a report that said no damages and would never would have thought to ask for one before now. If I did I feel pretty confident I would get an odd look and then probably a piece of paper with ‘no damages signed ‘landlord’’ written on it.
How is a damage receipt any better than contact info for the previous landlord anyway?
You can either show it to him in his presence but not leave it with him. Or redact personal information with a black marker. Bank account number, SSN etc…
I provided a pay stub the last time I rented it was just my most recent one and he didn’t ask for it. But I figured it was something he wouldn’t mind seeing to ensure I could cover expenses.
3 months is a little much in my mind but I think he’s trying to establish stability in your finances.
. I’m guessing it’s some sort of paper saying how much damage there was to the apartment. Nothing like that is standard procedure around here.