I asked a simple question in our Kansas City Real Estate Investors Facebook group:
Landlords: what's a "red flag" during tenant screening that you learned the hard way not to ignore?
Not the obvious stuff like income or credit. The things you only notice after they cost you.
The answers poured in. One landlord has been at this for 35 years. Here is what our community had to say.
Walk them to their car
This was the most popular answer by a mile.
Justin said it first: if they do not take care of their car, they will not take care of your property. Adriane's dad taught her to walk every applicant out to their car after the showing. Ashley does the same.
It is not about what they drive. A paid-off beater is smart money. It is about how they treat what they have. Look at the inside.
Mike offered a fair counterpoint. His car is a mess because he works out of it, and his house is clean. So treat it as one clue, not a verdict.
Listen to why they are moving
Several landlords said the same thing in different words.
- "I have to move immediately." Daniel always asks: is the tenant leaving, or is the landlord making them leave?
- "My last landlord never fixed anything." Danielle and Myeisha both flagged this. As Mike put it, when every problem is someone else's fault, odds are you have found the problem.
- "I only want a private landlord." Robert's take: there is usually a reason they cannot qualify with a property management company. They may be fine people. Just find out why.
Watch how they treat your time
Bob will not rent to someone who shows up 30 to 60 minutes late without a call or text. If they do not respect your time, they will not respect your property.
John added the cousin of this one: hard to reach, slow to send information, uncooperative from day one. It does not get better after move-in.
Money signals worth a second look
- Asking for favors up front. Casey and Robert both said it. If they need help with the deposit and first month, that is likely how every month will go.
- Money owed to a past landlord. Christina calls unpaid balances one of her biggest red flags. Rental verification and credit checks catch most of it.
- A year of rent paid in advance. It sounds great. But a windfall is not income. Make sure there is still a paycheck when the lease renews.
- Utilities. Sarah asks if applicants can get utilities in their own name. Christina collects confirmation numbers for every utility before she hands over keys. Don and I had this in our leases from the start, and it saved us more than once.
Verify it yourself
Jake called the employer number on an application and everything checked out. Then he looked up the company's number online and called that. They had never heard of the applicant.
Look up the number yourself. Every time.
Charlie, the 35-year landlord, watches for the gap between what applicants tell him and what their paperwork shows. When the two do not match, that is his red flag, "waving like a Chiefs fan flag just after a touchdown."
The household that only works if everyone stays
This one is ours. Don and I were never big-time landlords, but our hardest situations came from couples who moved in together, then split. One left. The one who stayed could not cover the rent. We ended up in the middle of a broken lease or an eviction.
Here is the lesson, and it matters. The red flag is not who the people are to each other. Marital status is a protected class in Kansas City, Missouri, and you cannot screen on it. The red flag is a household that only qualifies on combined income, with no plan if one person leaves. That is true for roommates, siblings and married couples too.
What you can do:
- Have every adult apply and be screened.
- Put every adult on the lease, each responsible for the full rent.
- Spell out in the lease what happens if one person moves out.
One rule over all the rest
Some answers in the thread were gut feelings: how someone looks, how they come across. Angel said her biggest mistake was ignoring her gut.
Your gut is useful. It tells you where to look closer. But it cannot be the reason you say no. Fair housing law requires that every applicant gets the same treatment.
Christina said it best: she uses the same screening criteria for everyone, and she has had really good results.
So write your criteria down. Apply them to every applicant, in the same order, every time. If you check one car, check them all.
MAREI Members: start with a sample.
Not sure what written criteria look like? There is a sample screening criteria from Rent Perfect waiting for you in the MAREI Member Library. Download it, make it yours, and use it for every applicant.
Make "the same for everyone" easy
A consistent process is easier when the system does it for you. That is why MAREI partners with Rent Perfect.
Rent Perfect gives you professional tenant screening, online applications, lease signing, move-in and move-out inspections and more. MAREI members join for $0.95. You do need to join, because they run credit. Your applicants pay the screening fees.
What is your red flag?
The conversation is still going, and your experience belongs in it.
Join the conversation on Facebook →
MAREI is an affiliate partner of Rent Perfect and may earn a commission when you sign up. This article shares landlord experiences for education and is not legal advice. Fair housing rules vary by city, so check with your attorney.
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