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I'm GLAD I charge for rental/income verifications.....

By Wallace S. Gibson, CPM

Property Manager with Gibson Management Group, Ltd.

April 06, 2008 12:13 AM

Having just read a post on the BADLANDLORDS website where an ex-tenant wants to file a fair housing complaint against their former landlord for providing a bad/inaccurate reference to their new landlord, I am glad I charge departing residents a small fee * equal to my credit check fee * for rental/income verifications.

I require the tenant sign the verification form, bring it to my office with their check and a SASE to where they want it to go. I complete the paperwork, copy the verification for the tenant file and then mail.

I don't do verbal/phone or fax verifications and I've actually turned away a federal investigator who wanted to do a security clearance on a former tenant because they could not provide the fee to take 30 min of my time.

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Robert Machado

HomePointe Property Management, CRMC - Sacramento, CA

CPM MPM - Property Manager and Property Management

Wallace,

That is a new one. I will have to think about that. We charge for written verifications but do not charge for verbal ones. Our rental application has a clause where the tenant agrees to allow us to release information on their tenancy, so I have not had problems with tenants about releasing the info. I wonder what my collegues in the area would think about us not releasing info readily.

Apr 06, 2008 05:35 PM

Wallace S. Gibson, CPM

Gibson Management Group, Ltd. - Charlottesville, VA

LandlordWhisperer

Bob - I started charging a few years ago after I attended a PM conference and found that it was the "norm" in their area. In NoVa/DC area where there are many govnmt employees, PM/landlords must pay and SUBSCRIBE to a service that will provide employment verification for govnmt employees. Our VA state legislature actually increased the amount we can charge for tenant credit applications from $20 to $32 to accommodate the need for this subscription.....charging for landlord verifications/written references has been done in multi-unit properties for many years * especially large properties where bookkeeping is not done on the site.

It is not a profit center as the charge barely covers the time involved to complete the form; however, being able to have a copy of the information provided will be invaluable.

Apr 06, 2008 11:56 PM

Leslie Prest

Leslie Prest, Prest Realty, Sales and Rentals in Payson, AZ - Payson, AZ

Owner, Assoc. Broker, Prest Realty, Payson,

Geez-how much competition do you have? It seems to me that if you nickel and dime a tenant to death (or in this case $20 or $30 them to death) that if they CAN they will just go elsewhere.

Apr 07, 2008 06:11 AM

Leslie * residents don't KNOW about the costs unless they want the service....I do have a reference to a "forms fee" in my Resident Handbook and I doubt $25 will break any of my residents...my homes rent from $1,200 to $4,700 per month.

When I started my PM biz in Central VA 10 years ago, NO PM charged a credit check/application fee....I was the FIRST. Now EVERY PM charges a fee - most are more than mine.

Apr 07, 2008 07:11 AM

I'm GLAD I charge for rental/income verifications.....

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Wallace S. Gibson, CPM

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