Renter Credit Check
I am currently renting the basement apartment of a house, and have
recently learned that he is thinking about
selling the house.
I've been considering buying a house anyway, and I am considering buying
the house, and renting 'most' of it, and
continue living in the basement like I have for a while. So It will be
business as usual ( well, except for also paying for things that break
in the house ) except sort of in reverse.
so my questions are:
1) In this scenario, who works on the garden/lawn? If I was living in
a different state, and renting out the whole
house, the renters would have to take care of everything, of
course. But in this case, who does the work?
I do have a separate entrance to the house, but I do have to walk
into the back yard to get in.
2) What defines an 'illegal' apartment? If I buy the home, then live
in the basement, is that 'legal'?
3) What is a 'fair' way to split utilities? Or should the price
include utilities? How does cable work?
4) What other considerations should I have if I decide to go this
route?
You are not extending any credit to a stranger whatsoever. A credit
report can give you an idea about whether or not a person pays his
bills regularly and on time, how much debt that person has in his
name, and some other information, but it will not tell you whether
that person will make for a good tenant or not. There are a lot of
rude, loud, sloppy people who move around a lot and have no respect
for anything or anyone who also happen to pay their bills on time. Since
you are in no way granting your tenant a loan, and you have a deposit secured
to pay for damages incurred, I don't think there is really any basis for
checking the credit of a tenant. Some states allow this, though.
How about renting from a landlord that doesn't check credit? My last
two places of residence haven't checked and both experiences were
wonderful. I was in one 3 years and the other more than 3 years. While
a lot of landlords (mostly property management companies) do require
a credit check, you might be surprised to know that many do not. Bottom
line: a credit score isn't very useful in determining whether you will
have a good tenant or not. There are lot of factors that come into play
when determining who to rent to, and I would argue that an applicant's
credit score isn't a deciding factor, although it could prove useful.
As a tenant, I just want to live in your house, not buy it.