Any property rental owners here that can chime in with some advice for a sketchy situation?

[suhhh]

So long story short, I'm friends with (2 buddies) that are moving out in a couple weeks and they had forged one of their paystubs to reflect a proper income for the rent.

Now I know that what they are doing isn't legal, however from what they have heard it's somewhat common. Reason for forging a paystub is because one of them is currently unemployed while the other is working a full time job, they had come across an INSANELY great deal with a 10/10 land owner, apartment is super spacious and allows for big dogs (friend has a rottweiler) and the price is amazing for the area we live in, so they could not pass up the offer because in the area they are in it's extremely hard to find apartment units that allow large dogs.

That friend is currently applying for jobs in hopes he will land one sometime this year, he's a Computer Science major and is expecting to get a relatively decent paying job that can easily afford the rent. Neither friend was expecting to find an apartment this early out but since the deal was so good, they decided to move in a bit earlier than expected. The friend without a job has enough sustainable income to afford (1 year) of rent.

The friends have sent in all documentation to the land owner on Sunday and is currently waiting to hear back, both friends also have great credit scores for their age (23/24 years, 750-800 credit)

Asking on their behalf, they are wondering the steps land owners will take to ensure tenants can pay income. Both friends have legit credit scores/on time payment history, paystub was forged to reflect accurate numbers and the format of everything was insured to look correct. Will the land owner just glance at the paystub to make sure the numbers add up then mostly focus on credit score/payment history?

Those two have told me that they have talked to other people, and they generally said that the land owner will retain a copy of the paystub as "insurance" in the case rent isn't paid etc. Will there be anything else to worry about? Will land owners focus on the paystub aspect more or credit?

Thanks all

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[Phy]

How is a copy of the paystub "insurance"? If they contract is 1 year, and they can pay 1 year, then that might be an option, which gives them a year to find the money for next year.

One thing I want to mention, if it's too good to be true, it usually is. Did this landlord tell them to pay for a credit report themselves? Because that's sketchy as fuck and usually a scam.

 

[suhhh]

How is a copy of the paystub "insurance"? If they contract is 1 year, and they can pay 1 year, then that might be an option, which gives them a year to find the money for next year.

One thing I want to mention, if it's too good to be true, it usually is. Did this landlord tell them to pay for a credit report themselves? Because that's sketchy as fuck and usually a scam.

Insurance as in, if tenants cannot pay the rent, they will kick the friends out because one of them said they make "x" amount of money. Mostly for keeping records.

In terms of the landlord, he is friends with one of the friends dad. Extremely nice and kind older man, one of the friends and his father knows the previous tenant in that unit and she had nothing but good things to say about the landlord. There are no worries about the legitimacy about the landlord, the worry is mostly on how in depth he will be in regards to verifying info (i.e. calling employer)

Credit report was given through credit karma.

 

[Phy]

Insurance as in, if tenants cannot pay the rent, they will kick the friends out because one of them said they make "x" amount of money. Mostly for keeping records.

In terms of the landlord, he is friends with one of the friends dad. Extremely nice and kind older man, one of the friends and his father knows the previous tenant in that unit and she had nothing but good things to say about the landlord. There are no worries about the legitimacy about the landlord, the worry is mostly on how in depth he will be in regards to verifying info (i.e. calling employer)

Credit report was given through credit karma.

Ight. How in depth a landlord gets is hard to know, they all do their own thing, and sometimes case by case. I think the "Professional" ones usually do background checks, but I don't see why he would verify employment given a "recent" paystub.

 

[suhhh]

Ight. How in depth a landlord gets is hard to know, they all do their own thing, and sometimes case by case. I think the "Professional" ones usually do background checks, but I don't see why he would verify employment given a "recent" paystub.

Understandable yeah, in their situation it seems like it could go either way since the landlord is extremely old. Either he'll do it himself or he'll have someone else run it for him. Both paystubs that were given are recent (within a week of eachother), both friends went into very in depth detail to recalculate all the numbers to reflect a higher salary and made sure every detail on the document was spot on without any careless mistakes. When looking at it, everything should check out.

Both friends are hoping that because of the prior relationship with the landlord/friends father that things will go smooth. They are both clean and respectful people and aren't planning on any illegal activities/partying, they just got a great offer that was a bit earlier than expected so they decided to bite on it.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

Depends if the property owner is the actual landlord or if he has a management property handle things for him. Typically apartment building are overlooked by a management company. A management company will almost certainly contact employers to verify employment/income.

 

[suhhh]

Depends if the property owner is the actual landlord or if he has a management property handle things for him. Typically apartment building are overlooked by a management company. A management company will almost certainly contact employers to verify employment/income.

He is the actual landlord and owns the property completely, he lives in a different state but just rents it out (used to live there with his mother who had since passed, long ago). That should be better right?

 

[RobbJK88]

Only thing they *might* need to worry about is if the landlord decides to contact employer.... If it's a legit company that he's using, then it shouldn't be an issue.

I spoke to the property manager I work with about this and she said the only time they call employers is if the employer in question seems fake/sketchy, just to confirm it's a legit job, other than that, shouldn't have anything to worry about according to my coworker. I'd assume an independent landlord could be more or less particular than an actual management company would... but if he's a friend of one of the guys parents, I'd assume he wouldn't dig too much into it.

For reference, I work for a property management/development company that owns and operates multiple apartment buildings/complexes, as well as condos and homes.

 

[suhhh]

Only thing they *might* need to worry about is if the landlord decides to contact employer.... If it's a legit company that he's using, then it shouldn't be an issue.

I spoke to the property manager I work with about this and she said the only time they call employers is if the employer in question seems fake/sketchy, just to confirm it's a legit job, other than that, shouldn't have anything to worry about according to my coworker.

Yeah that was their main concern, the paystub is a legitimate paystub from an actual company that a friend had given them. None of the formats were changed and only the numbers were directly changed. Thanks for the info.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

He is the actual landlord and owns the property completely, he lives in a different state but just rents it out (used to live there with his mother who had since passed, long ago). That should be better right?

Should be. Odd that he manages the property from a different state though. That really leaves his investment out there in the wind.

 

[suhhh]

Should be. Odd that he manages the property from a different state though. That really leaves his investment out there in the wind.

When I said different state I meant NJ/NYC, the landlord currently lives in NYC approx 30 min from the property so it's not far at all.

 

[RobbJK88]

Should be. Odd that he manages the property from a different state though. That really leaves his investment out there in the wind.

Not uncommon for rental properties to have out of state or even out of country owners... my parents rented a house (one of many in the area owned by the same guy) and he lived in France... the owner simply hired a go-between company to handle all the day to day stuff and the owner would come by and visit once every couple of years.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

Not uncommon for rental properties to have out of state or even out of country owners... my parents rented a house (one of many in the area owned by the same guy) and he lived in France... the owner simply hired a go-between company to handle all the day to day stuff and the owner would come by and visit once every couple of years.

I mentioned management companies earlier and OP said there wasn't one. Just some private owner in a different state.

 

[suhhh]

After much worrying, the two friends got approved

the two friends are so fucking happy

celebration time for the two friends

Thank you everyone for your input very much

 

[BrandonSmith]

Since we're resurrecting dead threads with no reason to, I'll add my take on situations.

I request paystubs as an initial filter. Once I've filtered out those who meet my criteria for income, I then perform a credit check and filter out those who don't meet my credit criteria. Then, those who've made it that far through the process get full background checks including employment verification. Why? Liability. Whether that's financial liability or casualty liability (e.g., property damage), I will limit the possibility as much as I can.

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