No real value in the post but just an interesting read - Please feel free to post your opinions House is on the market and first applicant to be processed Single mom and daughter and a pet - Lets not go further as its the references thats the interesting part Reference 1 - Family - apparently lived with them till recent and moved into temporary accomodation as they needed their own space Reference 2 - Temporary accomodation - Hotel - I called them out of curiosity and asked about monthly and weekly deals but was told the best they could offer is 15% off if I booked over 7 nights and paid upfront. The cheapest amount which is just a double room would have been 80% of the applicants income. I was also told pets not allowed other than support animals with documentation. So my hunch is 1) She wasn't living with family recently or she has been kicked out (not for needing their own space) or something else dodgy about her living situation. Actually be pretty hard to prove who family is (provide mates as reference and call them family to make it sound better) 2) Hotel reference could be a fake based on costs and no pets allowed 3) PM hasn't passed on the message correctly Am I just paranoid or would you also be suspicious by the application
I had a mother apply with her daughter and son in one of my properties. Claimed she separated from her husband. Very wealthy family. Covid hit and they claimed hardship so PM went to check on everything and found only the daughter living there with two other people who weren't on the lease. Mother and son nowhere to be seen. We realised mum told a fib to get her daughter the rental house she wanted so she could share with friends and party it up. Was a darn mess.
Taking it at face value, they could have moved into the hotel for a short-term option whilst pet was being cared for by a relative/friend. Need to understand the application better - where did they live prior to being at the relative? How stable/reliable is the income? Are there also Centerlink benefits & child support? What does the bank statement/savings look like? Where is the pet now? I would also chat to the relative just to see what they say. Most applications like this will either throw up too many red flags along the way or turn out ok if there is a genuine temporary hardship.
Pretty much hit the points that I have replied too the PM with. Also simple things like calling the hotel (google number) to confirm the referee details are actually staff. Unfortunately my PM is not the best (cannot be changed due to other reasons) and I also believe there is miscommunication also involved. Unfortunately based on this id take a more cautious approach
The story sounds fairly suspicous, I mean needing ones own space is understandable, but moving to a hotel is a rather expensive and knee-jerk / desperatly urgent way to do it vs just finding a new rental property. Having never met the person it sounds as though they are either transient without any proper rental history at all, or trying to hide a prior problematic tenancy.
Maybe this is the kind of thing that happens in Domestic Violence situations? I used to worry about single parents, but i think they do have to live somewhere.
I'm confused at why the first reaction is to doubt the applicant's story. I don't think someone would normally have moved out suddenly from a family home into temporary hotel/motel accomodation unless there was an immediate threat to one's safety, especially when there is a child involved. I know of schemes in Victoria where you can get part of your rent covered temporarily if you are fleeing domestic violence. You are usually expected to contribute something towards the cost. Given she has a child, she would have been priority, and a rooming house wouldn't have been considered. Its possible that the women's refuge had no spare rooms, and the next best option was temporary accomodation. I have even seen funding to help with bond and moving costs. Often people in this situation are required to make alternate arrangements for pets. There are places like the Lost Dogs Home or RSPCA (the name of the third place escapes me at the moment), which aren't cheap, but there is funding for this for certain individuals. It is also possible that the applicant may have had a friend care for the pet during this time. Domestic violence is a sensitive issue. I never disclosed to my landlord that I had to go through SafeSteps when I was applying for a previous rental property. I was impressed by the amount of support that is available. I've also known one woman who managed to secure funding to have cameras installed in her new residence (because the ex had a history of breaching IVOs). If you have doubts, I don't see the problem in asking the applicant for more information, if you feel you need more clarity before accepting their application. They may not disclose the exact reason they needed to move suddenly (embarrassment, shame, etc) - but put two and two together, there aren't many other reasons that would prompt someone with a child to move into temporary accomodation.
I’m always amazed by the effort (nosiness) some landlords go to to check their potential tenants. Single mum and a daughter - no worries Do you accept pets - yes / no? Does she have a reliable job and can she pay - yes / no? End of story. Get your rent payment and move on. Ringing the hotel, asking for rates, specials etc. what does this prove beyond she has enough money to pay for a hotel and obviously wanted to move out of her family arrangement (likely in a hurry). Their history beyond can they pay the rent and will they keep your property in ok condition is really none of your concern. Some landlords on here need less time on their hands and more focus on the big picture.
Could not the Hotel verify her reference as they gave it to her? Why even bother asking for a reference if you are not going to verify it when in doubt ? A lot of my tenants come from hotels it is better than getting some-one who was camped under a bridge.
I'd be in this category too, but if in doubt, just give a 6mth lease & an inspection at the 3 month mark.
If it was that simple... You're assuming that all applicants are honest and wanting to do the right thing. However, that's not always true. Yeah, she can be just that. Or... She can might be someone who moved from rental to rental, hiding the fact she has some druggo bf that has the tendency to trash houses (hence she moved), and she herself make the place look like total dump, while leaving without paying one day. Landlords are not charity, and with all the wanting to help, you never know and expecting landlords to take the risk with people with Red flags is unreasonable.
On gut instinct/face value, this application looks dodgy to me. Obviously we have very limited information to go off, but from what's available that's my call. We get PLENTY of people that claim "living with family" or "couch surfing" or "living in hotel" when they're trying (usually poorly) to hide where they've actually been... i.e. trashing your predecessors house. I think you've done the right thing looking closer into this. Ask her for more information about rentals that you can actually check (i.e. renting through an agent or other third party) and look for inconsistencies in the story (they often come up- people are generally bad liars).
