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Screening Prospective Tenants: Questions to Ask

landlord, 02 December 2007, 2 comments
Categories: vacancy/screening issues
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Hopefully, a short time after advertising your vacant unit, you will receive calls from a whole bunch of interested prospective tenants. Now comes the challenge– how do you make a decision as to which ones you’ll eliminate and to which ones you’ll want to show the property?

What questions will you want to ask? Which questions are the ones that can help you figure our if the applicant is worth your time driving over to the property to show it? (Your valuable TIME). While there are no hard and fast rules, here are some of the questions I use to screen a prospective tenant over the phone. Based on the answers to these questions, I can make a decision as to whether they are worthwhile candidate to pursue. If they are, I will offer them an opportunity to make an appointment and them the property. Otherwise, I will politely tell them why I don’t think it’s going to be a good fit (income insufficient, pets, smokers, etc.). Make sure that the reason you are denying them is a legally valid reason.

  1. Can I have your name?- Yes you should always get this. Why would you want to meet someone who won’t give you their FULL name. If you do make an appointment to see the house, ask them to bring ID, too.

  2. What are the best phone numbers to reach you should we get disconnected or I need to reschedule an appointment? (home, cell and and work, if possible)- So that you can call them back if necessary. (Remember, they have yours!)
  3. How many people will be living in the unit, even if temporarily? Total number=_____ (note: this question was updated/modified from the original post)
  4. What’s your current situation?/ Where are you renting now?
  5. Why are you looking to move?
  6. When are you looking to move?
  7. Do you think your current landlord would give you a good reference?/Have you ever been evicted?
  8. Do you have any pets? (if so, what kind?)
  9. Does anyone who wants to rent this property smoke?
  10. How many vehicles total would everyone need to park at the property?
  11. How is your credit and those of the other adults looking to rent?
  12. In what other towns would you be interested in renting? (in case you have vacant units in other towns, too.)
  13. How many bedrooms do you need?
  14. How long are you looking to rent?
  15. How much do you make per week/month/year (whichever seems most appropriate)? How about the other applicants? Is this “gross income” or “take home” income?
  16. The security deposit is $_______ and the first month’s rent is $______. Both of those are needed by move in date. Do you think you would have that amount money available by the time the unit would be available to rent?

I have tried to write these questions in a way that you might easily ask them to someone you were speaking with over the phone. Of course, there are others you might want to interject, but this gives you a guideline. Based on their answers, you should be able to get a pretty good idea of what their needs are, their financial picture and if you might want to set an appointment with them to show them the property.

During this time, you are also assessing how cooperative they are with the interview and how much information they are freely willing to give. This is a two way process. You want to be open and honest with about the property and what you are looking for, and you expect the same from them. This also plays a factor as to whether you want to rent to them or not. What’s your gut feeling? (And, yes, a rude or abrasive applicant is a valid reason not to give them an appointment to see the property!)

If you do want to show them the unit, make sure you have a good application and process. I will try to cover this in depth in a future article. Learning to do a good phone screening interview will help you be more efficient and waste less time, money and energy.

Let me know if you have any questions that you ask applicants which I have not mentioned here, but you personally find useful in your landlord business.

Regards,

Steven Boorstein

Author/Landlord

http://www.howtobuyrentalproperty.com/

http://www.managerentalproperty.com/

www.HowToBuyRentalProperty.com
www.ManageRentalProperty.com
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Comments

2 Responses, Leave a Reply
  1. Patrick in Philly
    25 December 2007, 10:36 pm

    I would caution against asking how many children would be living at the house. You are giving the appearance that children may play a factor in whether to rent to the prospective tenant. This is a big no-no for discrimination and get you in hot water. I usually ask how many total people will be living in the house. In my application I ask for names and birth dates of all individuals living in the property. My explanation of this is that all persons over 18 years of age must go through the screening process.

    The second item I change around is the “Do you have any pets”. Many times applicants will answer that they do not (even if they do) to try and convince you later they are worthwhile prospects. I find asking the question in the question “What pets do you have” asks the same question in a way that seems like you accept pets and opens people up to talking more about it.

  2. How To Buy Rental Property
    26 December 2007, 6:30 am

    Good point… you don’t want to even appear to act like you are discriminating based on familial status. I did post recently on the topic of discrimination and the Fair Housing Act ( here is the link). Asking “how many adults and how many children” helps potentially avoid the problem of prospective tenants not offering up that they have “a few kids” under age 18 who “only stay on weekends” or that the tenant is pregnant with triplets or that their 17 year old is living with them “but not really a kid anymore and not able to sign the lease either.” In these cases, my concern is that the tenant will exceed the state, township or Uniform Housing Code for occupancy standards for that particular unit, which could be a problem. (Occupancy standards is probably best reserved for a post in itself). So asking the question this way, for some reason often makes them offer up this information more readily.

    Maybe a better way would be to ask “How many people will be living in the unit, even if temporarily? Total number=_____”

    I would watch asking for dates of birth of applicants. While this may be ok for tenants who are actually signing the lease, according to AIDSHousingLA.org, on a pre-rental inquiry, “a landlord cannot ask the ages or dates of birth of each person who will be occupying a unit, however, the landlord may ask each person signing the rental agreement to certify that s/he is at least 18 years of age (and therefore has the legal capacity to enter into a contract or lease).” I have also seen similar information mentioned elsewhere.

    But I absolutely agree that you want and need to be careful with asking that question and be able to legally justify ANY questions that you ask. ALWAYS consult an attorney if you have any questions regarding the legal issues or decisions that you have in managing your properties.

    I like turning the question of having pets into more of an assumption. I have asked the question this way before, too. It’s one little trick that might get a prospective tenant to admit to a pet that they otherwise might try to sneak past you. In my experience, it yields about the same result when you are soliciting this answer in writing, but is probably more effective at catching the applicant off guard when interviewing them in person or on the phone.

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