So today a 29 y.o. mom of 2 calls about my place. The rent is $950 and her source of income is medical disability at $975/month. She sais her father is willing to cosign on the lease and he will be supplementing her income. She’s currently living w/him and stepmom in a cramped 2 bdrm.
Do I run away from this? Or do you guys deal with these situations if credit/background etc. pan out?
Thanks, Mike
p.s. Anyone ever notice that the people with issues call several days after the ad comes out, but the people seemingly on the ball call the day of the ad or next day? Just an observation.
This is still workable, but you’re going to have to check out the Dad & Stepmom too just as if they were going to live there. Verify their income. If they’re in a cramped two bedroom, is it because they didn’t expect the daughter and 2 grand-daugthers to be living there or because they just can’t afford anything bigger.
Is there anything else that disqualifies her? I had someone apply today who had a felony and 12 misdemeanors in the past 39 months. Does this girl have some past legal issues too?
If everything checks out ok, you’re going to have to make the Dad & Daughter both “jointly & severally liable.” That will mean that any issues will come back on both of them.
It’s not an ideal situation, but still a possibility.
I had 2 applicants similar to yours.
The first one was a mom to be , unmarried and a BF who seemed disinterested. My wife felt so sympathetic she wanted to take them in. However hard the decision, it is a business built on sweat equity and things change quickly so do people. Chances are the BF would have run away without taking responsibility and i’ld have a young girl with a baby unable to pay rent or even work for that matter.
The second was a mom with 2 kids, she wanted to stay close to her kids’ school, that was all fine and dandy but hers wasnt a permanent job and though rent was under 35% of salary, stability was circumspect. Cute as a button kids though. Worst case if she ran out of money her first priority would be to provide food for her kids rather than pay me rent, which of course is the right thing to do, and anyone would do it. But i dont get rent and that cuts me deep.
I would turn her down. She isn’t even thinking about having enough money to live on.
Her father would have to supliment her income with $2,000 a month, every month, in order for her to live a minimum lifestyle. If he is willing to pay $2,000 a month just to get rid of her, she is hard to live with.
If the father is living in a cramped 2 bedroom apartment, he probably doesn’t have $2,000 a month that he doesn’t need for anything else.
If you don’t get the rent, you have to evict her, and you will never get any of the back rent or damages from her. You will have to sue the father for the rent money, and if he decides he is tired of paying, you are going to have a very difficult time getting any cash out of him.
My applicants must be able to qualify on their own, and the only time I will accept a tenant with a co-signer, is if the are otherwise qualified but lack sufficient landlord references, time on the job, or have no credit (not bad credit, no credit). In short, someone who is probably safe to take a risk on, but a co-signer is just added security.
Thanks guys for all your comments. After reading about it in my Nolo Press CA Landlord’s book it seems that since she is on disability, it would be against the law to turn her down on that income basis if she has a valid cosigner. She would still have to pass other criteria like anyone though.
She said the trouble with living with her dad (its a 2 bdrm house) is the stepmother dealing w/ her two kids. I agree though if her dad is agreeing to this he may not have done the math realistically.
Anyway, yesterday I left her a message to call me and I havent heard back so maybe its a non-issue. I have someone else (w/ a job) looking at the place tonight.