Qualifying Guidelines Archives - Training Property Managers

The FCRA with instructor notes by Robert Locke RMP, MPM

Anthony Locke — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 18:12:50 +0000

We took the entire act updated May 2016 and condensed it in attempt to address the issues pertaining to property managers gathering data on tenant applicants and added training notes, underlined specific words and bolded some critical language so you can read the law and our thoughts as to how the law plays out in the actual day-to-day practice of qualifying applicants for rentals. This is more of a training document for you and your staff to review yearly to refresh yourself (or train your new folks) as to the seriousness of the law and the practical implications of it. (This product is discounted until we get the correct documents in place)

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Cosigner Agreement

Anthony Locke — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 19:35:05 +0000

We got a lot of cosigner guarantors because a) we asked for them, and b) because they added backup to the applicant’s promise to fulfill the terms of the lease. We found collecting from the cosigner after move out was often easier than collecting from the tenant who left owing a balance. Often we got an employer, parent, sweetheart, partner or relative to back the applicant and agree that if they left owing money, the co-signer would make good on their promise. It’s amazing how a threatening letter or two wakes them up and they pay the bill left behind by the tenant. Owners are grateful when you do a great job for them and are pleased when they see you go the extra mile to protect them.

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Roommate Addendum

Anthony Locke — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 19:22:44 +0000

When three applicants want to move in together make sure you get them on a separate document outlining your requirements for roommates. You’ll need to give them some instructions that only relate to roommates, some rules for paying rent, some limits for changing out roommates and more. You’ll disclose the right to go after the one with highest credit no matter who damaged the property and left owing money. Make it known up front how you’ll respond to requests to remove someone from the lease. Roommates love each other when they move in (and will sign just about anything) but, like other community efforts, they often fall out of love and make a mess of the landlord-tenant relationship.

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Application Summary

Anthony Locke — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 19:17:16 +0000

In order to stay organized and have a quick reference, it’s a good idea to have an Application Summary you can put on top of all the information you gather when qualifying your applicant. Not only is it a summary of their information, it also summarizes additional information you gather during your process as well as documents the outcome. This is the quick reference version of the qualifying process and gives supervisors a jump start on the file without having to dig through the minutia. This has been developed over 7,000 applications so you don’t have to tweak it much.

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Official Notice of Approval – QG

Anthony Locke — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 19:05:01 +0000

When applicants are approved you’ll need a document to lock them down and make sure they follow through with the move in (or lose their money). Some managers have the tenant execute the lease immediately after approving but that may cause some challenges; especially if they read it and make a fuss over something they don’t like. You need to have some kind of enforceable document that lets the applicant know they are approved and lays out the money issues and critical dates. This document identifies the start date, move-in date, rent, deposits, fees, utility companies and other critical data for their occupancy. It puts their deposit at risk and identifies what happens if they change their mind. If you get the lease signed immediately you probably don’t need this. We prefer to hold the lease back but we get them committed as soon as they are approved. This document does just that.

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Adverse Action Letter

Anthony Locke — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 18:51:36 +0000

If you deny an applicant (or change the terms of the offer) the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires you notify the applicant of the denial and inform them of the source of the information you used to make your decision. This letter follows federal law and notifies the applicant accordingly. Failure to send this will subject you to numerous violations of the FCRA and the fines they assess for violators. We give you several options in this package.

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Owner’s Authorization to Lease

Anthony Locke — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 18:44:45 +0000

Unless you discuss every application with the owner, you’ll approve or deny most without the owner’s input. If you approve them, you will find times when an applicant falls outside your scope of authority for various reasons such as their credit score is low, their residency or employment may be weak, have money but not income, have several pets, are requesting a 9-month lease or any other nonconforming reason. This document lets you notify the owner of the issue and get their approval (or denial) to rent the property to a particular applicant without giving them too much information and violating the FCRA. We’ve accumulated several formats from other managers for this so we’ll include more than one for you to tweak to fit your model.

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Qualifying Guideline Supplemental Document Package

Anthony Locke — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 18:06:20 +0000

Bought separately the total is $149.00. Downloaded as a package the price changes to $120.00 (and subscribers get another 20% off the price of $120).

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Policies & Procedures for Qualifying Applicants

Anthony Locke — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 15:54:36 +0000

Everyone knows managers must strive for objectivity when approving and denying applicants but few have wrestled through the process of putting it in writing. One mistake when pulling personal information, passing it around, viewing it, scanning/copying to the wrong person and storing customer's private information can ruin a property manager’s career.

Over the years we developed the details of how to treat all applicants the same to reduce the chances of a claim of discrimination. We call it Qualifying Guidelines and it is available to our students along with several other tools to qualify applicants objectively and safely. In 35 years (processing over 20,000 applications) we never had a fair housing claim as we consistently applied these written guidelines to all applicants, the same way, every time. These qualifying guidelines are the result of 35 years of perfecting the process.

Bought separately the price totals $476.00. Bought as a Package (items 1,2,3,4) it’s $ 395.00

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2 Hour Training Video on Guidelines in Manual

Anthony Locke — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 15:44:46 +0000

In this ‘studio shot training video’ we work through the Full Version of the qualifying guidelines one topic at a time. It’s arduous but any staff you’re trying to train for this process needs to hear the details .. maybe more than once. When training someone to do qualifying applicants they need this training and you protect yourself when you can say … “we were trained on this by our broker.” Real Estate commissioner's, owner’s and HUD love to see that you’ve done lots of training for this process.

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Adverse Action Letter Draft

Anthony Locke — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 15:40:36 +0000

When you deny someone or change the offer (like requiring more security deposit) you MUST send this official notification disclosing the source of the information you used to bring you to your conclusion about them. This is required Every Time you deny an application or change the terms of your approval.

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The Short Qualifying Guidelines Document

Anthony Locke — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 15:36:41 +0000

Some won’t (or don’t want to) spend the money to get all the tools and training in this manual so we’re offering a shrunk-down version. If you want a basic framework for setting qualifying guidelines, a place to start, this shorter version of the full manual will give you a leg-up on the process. With this document you’ll be able to develop your own set of guidelines over time. This document (and training notes) will lay out what each credit score will require for approval, plus a chart laying out who should be managing the process for each category of applicant. You can use this do-it-yourself version and work through your own learning curves over time.
(this is a stand-alone document and Not Part Of A Package)

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The Full Qualifying Guidelines Document

Anthony Locke — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 15:27:49 +0000

This is a 25 page manual we developed over 35 years that guided us through a Law-Suit-Free Experience in processing our applicants. This manual guided our managers to treat all applicants properly as it related to credit scores, secondary income streams, no employment situations, retired applicant's, child support, no green card applicants, foreign nationals, disabled, roommates, recent foreclosures, special needs occupants, spouses with bankruptcies and more. The document is full of training notes and can be used for training your staff.

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Fair Credit Reporting Act (Relevant Portions)

Anthony Locke — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 14:43:50 +0000

. . . or at least the sections that apply to property managers pulling someone credit and other personal information. This act lays out the requirements for anyone pulling credit (and other private information) you’ll need to figure out whether or not you want to rent to them. This Is The Law everyone must follow when viewing, transmitting and storing applicants personal information including owners and property managers. Fines for violations of this act are $37,500 per event so the FTC is serious about compliance and claims of “I didn’t know” won’t save you.

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Pet Exhibit

Anthony Locke — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 01:09:16 +0000

You want to be sure every tenant signs a pet exhibit so every detail is covered. Don’t try to cover this in the lease as it stretches it out. If they have a pet you want them to tell you breed, weight, color and name so they don’t sneak in a different one. You also want to remind them of the six things they need to do after move-out to get their deposit back. If they don’t have a pet you need to remind them of the costs, penalties and process you’ll go through if you discover a pet. Let them know there are serious penalties if they get caught with an unauthorized pet.

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