Comments on: “Do Not Rent To” Database Helps Landlords Screen Tenants, Avoid Nightmares

By: JP Moses

JP Moses — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:39:18 +0000

@Jessie – Jessie, you should first and foremost screen your tenants with a credit check and criminal background check. There are often local agencies who provide that service. Check with your local REIA group or landlord association and you’ll probably find them advertising in the club newsletter.

Then the DoNotRentTo.com list is an excellent backup, to verify if OTHER LANDLORDS have reported them to the list.

Hope that helps.

…jp

By: Jessie

Jessie — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:22:05 +0000

How do you get the list of bad tenant. Some people call it Renters list. How do you get it, so that I can find out if the person that Im renting to is good or not?

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:32:50 +0000

Being a landlord once and having a horrendous situation on our hands…I would have greatly appreciated this info 2 years ago. It is very concise and thorough. I am sorry for what you went through, but I understand your pain. First rule of thumb…Never rent to supposed “friends of the family”! It is not worth it and you will be taken advantage of. Because they are friends we did not do the proper tenant screening, and we were sorry and out $5000.00.
We should have done a tenant background check, and I like the idea of making the tenants pay for it. It is an additional tenant screening process all by itself.
We should have done one ourselves as we have our own horror story and money lost.
A lot of those suggestions I would not have even thought about. I wish I would have seen them before I rented. Well, there is always next time, or maybe not…

By: JP Moses

JP Moses — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:04:35 +0000

@Brooke – Hey, Brooke, it sdeems to me like a perfect fit for http://www.angieslist.com

…jp

By: Brooke

Brooke — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:43:13 +0000

Is there a database like this for Property Managers? I am working with a gentleman on a short sale where the company that was supposed to be managing his home has screwed him time and again.

My husband called anonymously asking about the house and was told it was currenly leased while the owner hasn’t gotten any rent for the past five months. Now they just told him yesterday that his house would be auctioned off today! Unbelievable!

Anyway, I’d love to find a way to warn other landlords away from this horrible “management company”. Anyone know of a “This Property Manager Sucks.com” ?

Thanks,
Brooke

By: Nick Cifonie

Nick Cifonie — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:35:08 +0000

I use a service called “National Tenant Network”.

I had to pay to become a member, I don’t remember how much that was, but once a member, for $10 or $15 I get a full report on each prospective tenant.

I get a report if they’ve ever been in eviction court in any state, if they’ve been sued by a landlord, and some other goodies. They also have an options for a criminal check and cross-reference of their social security number.

It has saved me BIG from renting to a few real deadbeats, who had excellent “references”, even from supposed landlords.

http://www.ntnonline.com/

They have a lot of local offices, and I get the data in seconds from my computer.

Nick Cifonie
Host: http://www.REI-TV.com

By: JP Moses

JP Moses — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:42:56 +0000

@Cory Boatright – Cory, great tip. You’re absolutely right. Thanks for that.

Regarding your question at the end, it’s up to landlords to update the donotrentto database. Whoever’s using the system (landlords) input the info on tenants to watch for.

And on the other side, when you get a tenant applicant, you’d go into the donotrentto database and do a search on them to see if any previous landlord has reported them.

So it’s not that they have staff inputting bad tenants and sending out monthly reports to subscribers. It’s much more like a community-run, nationwide database.

Make sense?

By: Cory Boatright

Cory Boatright — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:57:33 +0000

They probably don’t have enough money to sue you. :0)

One way we have prevented tenants from being total jerks to us is by paying them to leave the house in broom swept condition. This is a great little tip that has served us well doing lease options in Oklahoma. The tenants will run into hard times and won’t be able to pay his lease payment. They usually put down 3% and I come to them and say something along these lines: “Look you put down X and right now you still owe X for last month. I have a idea even though you owe me X I will actually pay you $200 $100 now and $100 when you show me the house is vacant and in broom swept condition. This method has helped me avoid foreclosure for years or even appearing in court to plea to the judge for an eviction.

I think the idea of having a national database for problem tenants is good, but I would like to know how often it is updated and how many reports they receive on a monthly basis. Any metrics like those would convince me more for the $29 fee.

Remember… be a servant,

Cory Boatright
Loss Mitigation Specialist
http://www.ShortSaleology.com

By: JP Moses

JP Moses — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:32:22 +0000

@Cogito Vici - Of course, anyone can sue anyone for any old thing. But in a legal sense, this seems no different to me than the buyer/seller feedback system on eBay. Tenants have the same right to subscribe and post as landlords do. That's my thought anyway. I leally like the system.

By: Cogito Vici

Cogito Vici — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:25:08 +0000

Great idea, but won’t they just sue you for saying bad things about them? Some are very savvy on how to work the legal system.