Steve Martin, Roxanne & Tenant Identity Issues

 

In the timeless appeal of romantic comedies, one of the tried-and-true story lines is the ugly guy who tries to get the really beautiful girl who is out of his league.  I was thinking of the movie, Roxanne (with Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah), and realized bringing up that reference was probably on par with bringing up Ben-Hur with Charleston Heston at this point- it’s like how long ago was that???  But humor me…

 

In Roxanne, Darryl Hannah is the beautiful bombshell and Steve Martin is the smitten, huge-nosed fire chief who does not feel worthy to pursue her.  A much better-looking, witless firefighter expresses interest in Hannah and Martin decides to help him; he gives him romantic ideas and poetic things to say to woo her.  Hannah loves it and the romance is on.  Of course, the subterfuge can only work for so long until it is discovered and then… (you’ll have to get the VHS to find out the dramatic ending!).  But, suffice to say, the ruse did not help either of them with their relationship with her in the aftermath. 

 

Outside of Hollywood endings, lying about one’s identity is not typically a long term, winning strategy.  And as a property manager in Charlotte, we are seeing a lot of prospective rental tenants misrepresent themselves on their applications (right now, I’m applauding myself for my diplomacy in that last statement).  Okay, to be more direct, some applicants are outright lying.  And this may be the worst that I’ve seen in my twenty years of screening tenants.  It’s high quality “fakery”- doctored paystubs, friends as landlord references, other people’s information being offered (with better credit & criminal reports), etc.

 

Why?  I believe it is a combination of much higher rental rates and inflation.  Housing and regular living expenses cost much more and this has eroded the financials of many prospective renters; debt levels have increased, credit quality has declined, and landlord reports have less nice things to say.  So, it makes it harder to have prospective tenants pass muster on screening criteria.

 

The thing is, at its core, good tenant application screening is designed to protect everyone (especially tenants!).  I don’t know how many times I’ve given some version of this stump speech:

 

Listen, we want to approve you as a tenant.  We easily get paid the majority of our fees to place tenants, not turn them away.  But prospective tenants with similar incomes have a tough time making it work at this rental price coupled with their other monthly obligations.  Then when rental payments inevitably aren’t made, it creates a bad situation for everyone: the owner doesn’t get the money, which forces us to use available avenues to secure the money, and then it creates a lot of all-around stress.  No one wants that- trust me, we do not want to chase you.  So, let’s avoid it and find a less expensive rental house for you.

 

Of course, most people don’t like to be told “no”, no matter how nicely or well-meaning the message might be.  So, they try to avoid the “no” by submitting falsified information making their application appear stronger. 

 

How do we figure out what tenant information we receive is true and what is manufactured?  As President Reagan famously said, “trust, but verify.”  And verify.  And verify.  And verify.

 

As landlords, we need to ask a lot of questions, especially now.  Call landlords and wait to get them on the phone.  Is the information the same as what is stated on the application?  Call the employers and do the same.  Is there a potential fraud alert on the credit application?  Do the paystub calculations for taxes and deductions pass an eye test?  Request bank statements to confirm the money flow.

 

It takes more time.  And applicants do not always like the increased scrutiny- and they’ll tell you this!  But there is a lot at stake.  Since the CARES Act, evictions take more time and a wrong applicant can be very costly.  Take the upfront time to avoid the backend headaches.

 

Steve Martin and his young accomplice had Daryl Hannah fooled… up to a certain point.  Smart and thorough landlords need to make sure that certain point is prior to handing the keys over!

 

Happy Landlording!