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Landlord here. This tenant made a mistake paying an "administrative fee" of $150, and giving the deposit ($350) without a signed lease. Though, we do charge a $

Landlord here. This tenant made a mistake paying an "administrative fee" of $150, and giving the deposit ($350) without a signed lease. Though, we do charge a $50 application fee to cover the cost of the background check we run. However, if this company is indeed not intending to rent this property and only collecting the application fees, it would be fraud.

fwefwwfe 10y ago
> Then they made a photocopy of our ID for a file. Which again raised my suspicion, I’ve rented many apartment before and none of properties ever asked for that before signing the lease That sounds like a red flag with the article/author. What apartment place wouldn't do a background check and want ID to make sure they go the right person?
- felipemnoa 10y ago
  Anecdote here: Once when I wanted to rent an apartment in a nice apartment complex they wouldn't even show me the apartment without me showing them my ID. I ended up renting the place and never had a problem.
  - win_ini 10y ago
    In California - it's the Law. You need to provide picture ID before the property management company can you show you around the property. At least that's what the little sign in each leasing office I've visited said.... (????)
    - swang 10y ago
      Huh? Is this a viewing or something else? I have rented apartments and looked at housing in several places in CA, not once has anyone asked me for my ID. Only when it got down to the serious brass tacks was that required.
      - azakai 10y ago
        Every apartment complex I've looked at (bay area) has required me to leave my photo ID with them at the leasing office while one of them took me on a tour to show me the apartment.
        swang 10y ago
        Is this condominiums/highrises? When I was looking for my apartment here no one ever asked for that. But I also didn't really look at places that had a leasing office either.
        azakai 10y ago
        Not necessarily in a high-rise. Basically a building or bunch of buildings with apartments that a single company owns and maintains and rents out. They tend to have a leasing office.
    - bdowling 10y ago
      An owner can allow whomever they choose onto a property. The practice you are describing is probably the result of caution on behalf of either the owner or the management company, almost certainly due to potential liability for harms that might occur.
    - adrr 10y ago
      Thats not law, they do that to prevent assaults against the agent, to get your info for their marketing database and also as evidence they are complying with fair housing laws. Some places do it some places don't.
  - joobus 10y ago
    In Texas, an ID is required to even view an apartment. Usually, they hold the drivers license at the office while you go view the apartments. It is a state law, and was put in place to prevent rapes.
    - 35bge57dtjku 10y ago
      Same thing happens in Seattle.
      - trome 10y ago
        Patently false, I've been to a few camera infested shitholes like the one on 15th and Market in Ballard where they tried to pull this crap on me (and gave up), but outside of that I have yet to run into it. IMO its a huge red flag, they're the only ones that tried that out of 80 places I've toured in the past 2 months. If the property manager tries this, its a sure sign that they are an ass. Also, the market seems to be cooling, one nicely remodled place I toured dropped to $1500 from $1700 for 950sqft 2 bed/1 bath in Queen Anne, then rented a week later. Seen a couple others do that, figure it should become more common as we get into summer.
        35bge57dtjku 10y ago
        > Patently false No, it was actually true when I looked at dozens of places. > If the property manager tries this, its a sure sign that they are an ass. That's a crazy assumption that's apparently based on nothing.
    - 4ad 10y ago
      How does this work with landlords that do "direct sells" and there is no office?
    - trome 10y ago
      Citation? This doesn't match my experience in Austin.
      - 10y ago
  - ufmace 10y ago
    That's pretty standard in most places AFAIK. Think about it - apartment salespeople are mostly women. Potential tenants are at least half men. When you walk in off the street to look at an apartment, they don't know you from Adam. And you're going into an empty apartment alone with a female salesperson. Do the math, they're gonna want some ID first.
    - 0xffff2 10y ago
      Are you implying they are doing some kind of instant background check with the ID? If not, what good is checking ID?
      - 67726e 10y ago
        The knowledge that you won't get away with rape, kidnap, or robbery acts as a deterrent.
      - PeterisP 10y ago
        Deterrence. Having your ID on file (vs knowing only a name that they likely made up) makes a potential criminal much more likely to get caught, so they're much less likely to do anything bad.
        SuperGent 10y ago
        Good job there is not such thing as false ID
        PeterisP 10y ago
        It's still another barrier that deters people - it's a numbers game, not about impossibility. And even a forged ID would have a valid photo that looks like you, which is much more helpful in finding a suspect than simply eyewitness/victim testimony.
  - erik998 10y ago
    I think this is the common practice in FL and part of the rules of being a realtor.
  - empressplay 10y ago
    Ditto with Australia, you have to show picture ID at inspections (which you must attend before applying).
- 4ad 10y ago
  As a non-American living in Western Europe the idea of a landlord doing a "background check" on prospective tenants is terrifying. Never heard of such a thing in Europe. What the hell does "background check" even entail.
  - pjc50 10y ago
    Unfortunately in the UK landlords are obliged to perform immigration checks: https://www.gov.uk/check-tenant-right-to-rent-documents/who-to-check https://www.gov.uk/check-tenant-right-to-rent-documents/who-... Most European countries have mandatory ID / residence registration so this is handled directly by the state rather than making landlords do it. (Whether the UK counts as "Europe" is a subject of extreme controversy)
    - Symbiote 10y ago
      That rule in the UK is very new, and also controversial.
  - wccrawford 10y ago
    They check for whatever they're legally allowed to check for. I found a service that does it when I just searched. https://www.tenantbackgroundsearch.com https://www.tenantbackgroundsearch.com
  - Broken_Hippo 10y ago
    Most will minimally do a credit check. Some will check your past landlords - and won't rent to first-time renters. Some do criminal background checks, and a small portion will check personal references.
  - taejo 10y ago
    German landlords in large cities generally require a credit report (though not things like criminal record, which can be in a US background check). For large institutional landlords, you may sign a document permitting them to perform this check; the more usual case is that you request a report from the credit-report company yourself and send them a copy.
ransom1538 10y ago
Yes it is fraud. For extra credit ensure they send you something by email AND something through usps. That is wire and mail fraud in the US which carrys absolutely ludicrous federal jail time.
syshum 10y ago
Personally I consider charging an "application fee" to be slightly scamy anyway. I remember, many many many years ago, when charging such a fee was unusual and normally done by places I would not want to rent from anyway If you feel the need to run a background check on your tenants, that should be the cost of doing business Of course those times changed and one of many reasons I stopped renting...
- neogodless 10y ago
  It costs me $35 to run a background/credit check. I paid for that... once. And the prospective tenant passed, but backed out on the apartment. Since then, I've asked productive tenants to pay the $35 fee. Most are fine with that, and none have backed out from renting once they've paid that small fee. (So far all have cleared the check.)
  - syshum 10y ago
    I would only pay it if it was refundable if you refuse me later, that is a compromise I am willing to make Places that have several hundred dollar non-refundable applications fees like the one in the story are the one I take issue with
nraynaud 10y ago
The US housing market is crazy, they creep on their tenants, and make them pay for the creepiness. And then the "background checks" are bullshit anyways because the court records is a mess and nobody has any incentive to keep perfect records (there is no downside to hurting the wrong person).
firebird84 10y ago
It may depend on where you live. Here in south florida, everyone charges these fees. I tried to find complexes without it, and they don't exist. Sometimes you don't have a choice.
metaphorm 10y ago
a signed lease is a legally binding contract. there's no need for a deposit at that point. are you confusing the holding fee "deposit" collected by the leasing office for the security desposit held in escrow by the landlord?

fwefwwfe 10y ago

> Then they made a photocopy of our ID for a file. Which again raised my suspicion, I’ve rented many apartment before and none of properties ever asked for that before signing the lease That sounds like a red flag with the article/author. What apartment place wouldn't do a background check and want ID to make sure they go the right person?

felipemnoa 10y ago
Anecdote here: Once when I wanted to rent an apartment in a nice apartment complex they wouldn't even show me the apartment without me showing them my ID. I ended up renting the place and never had a problem.
- win_ini 10y ago
  In California - it's the Law. You need to provide picture ID before the property management company can you show you around the property. At least that's what the little sign in each leasing office I've visited said.... (????)
  - swang 10y ago
    Huh? Is this a viewing or something else? I have rented apartments and looked at housing in several places in CA, not once has anyone asked me for my ID. Only when it got down to the serious brass tacks was that required.
    - azakai 10y ago
      Every apartment complex I've looked at (bay area) has required me to leave my photo ID with them at the leasing office while one of them took me on a tour to show me the apartment.
      - swang 10y ago
        Is this condominiums/highrises? When I was looking for my apartment here no one ever asked for that. But I also didn't really look at places that had a leasing office either.
        azakai 10y ago
        Not necessarily in a high-rise. Basically a building or bunch of buildings with apartments that a single company owns and maintains and rents out. They tend to have a leasing office.
  - bdowling 10y ago
    An owner can allow whomever they choose onto a property. The practice you are describing is probably the result of caution on behalf of either the owner or the management company, almost certainly due to potential liability for harms that might occur.
  - adrr 10y ago
    Thats not law, they do that to prevent assaults against the agent, to get your info for their marketing database and also as evidence they are complying with fair housing laws. Some places do it some places don't.
- joobus 10y ago
  In Texas, an ID is required to even view an apartment. Usually, they hold the drivers license at the office while you go view the apartments. It is a state law, and was put in place to prevent rapes.
  - 35bge57dtjku 10y ago
    Same thing happens in Seattle.
    - trome 10y ago
      Patently false, I've been to a few camera infested shitholes like the one on 15th and Market in Ballard where they tried to pull this crap on me (and gave up), but outside of that I have yet to run into it. IMO its a huge red flag, they're the only ones that tried that out of 80 places I've toured in the past 2 months. If the property manager tries this, its a sure sign that they are an ass. Also, the market seems to be cooling, one nicely remodled place I toured dropped to $1500 from $1700 for 950sqft 2 bed/1 bath in Queen Anne, then rented a week later. Seen a couple others do that, figure it should become more common as we get into summer.
      - 35bge57dtjku 10y ago
        > Patently false No, it was actually true when I looked at dozens of places. > If the property manager tries this, its a sure sign that they are an ass. That's a crazy assumption that's apparently based on nothing.
  - 4ad 10y ago
    How does this work with landlords that do "direct sells" and there is no office?
  - trome 10y ago
    Citation? This doesn't match my experience in Austin.
    - 10y ago
- ufmace 10y ago
  That's pretty standard in most places AFAIK. Think about it - apartment salespeople are mostly women. Potential tenants are at least half men. When you walk in off the street to look at an apartment, they don't know you from Adam. And you're going into an empty apartment alone with a female salesperson. Do the math, they're gonna want some ID first.
  - 0xffff2 10y ago
    Are you implying they are doing some kind of instant background check with the ID? If not, what good is checking ID?
    - 67726e 10y ago
      The knowledge that you won't get away with rape, kidnap, or robbery acts as a deterrent.
    - PeterisP 10y ago
      Deterrence. Having your ID on file (vs knowing only a name that they likely made up) makes a potential criminal much more likely to get caught, so they're much less likely to do anything bad.
      - SuperGent 10y ago
        Good job there is not such thing as false ID
        PeterisP 10y ago
        It's still another barrier that deters people - it's a numbers game, not about impossibility. And even a forged ID would have a valid photo that looks like you, which is much more helpful in finding a suspect than simply eyewitness/victim testimony.
- erik998 10y ago
  I think this is the common practice in FL and part of the rules of being a realtor.
- empressplay 10y ago
  Ditto with Australia, you have to show picture ID at inspections (which you must attend before applying).
4ad 10y ago
As a non-American living in Western Europe the idea of a landlord doing a "background check" on prospective tenants is terrifying. Never heard of such a thing in Europe. What the hell does "background check" even entail.
- pjc50 10y ago
  Unfortunately in the UK landlords are obliged to perform immigration checks: https://www.gov.uk/check-tenant-right-to-rent-documents/who-to-check https://www.gov.uk/check-tenant-right-to-rent-documents/who-... Most European countries have mandatory ID / residence registration so this is handled directly by the state rather than making landlords do it. (Whether the UK counts as "Europe" is a subject of extreme controversy)
  - Symbiote 10y ago
    That rule in the UK is very new, and also controversial.
- wccrawford 10y ago
  They check for whatever they're legally allowed to check for. I found a service that does it when I just searched. https://www.tenantbackgroundsearch.com https://www.tenantbackgroundsearch.com
- Broken_Hippo 10y ago
  Most will minimally do a credit check. Some will check your past landlords - and won't rent to first-time renters. Some do criminal background checks, and a small portion will check personal references.
- taejo 10y ago
  German landlords in large cities generally require a credit report (though not things like criminal record, which can be in a US background check). For large institutional landlords, you may sign a document permitting them to perform this check; the more usual case is that you request a report from the credit-report company yourself and send them a copy.

ransom1538 10y ago

Yes it is fraud. For extra credit ensure they send you something by email AND something through usps. That is wire and mail fraud in the US which carrys absolutely ludicrous federal jail time.

syshum 10y ago

Personally I consider charging an "application fee" to be slightly scamy anyway. I remember, many many many years ago, when charging such a fee was unusual and normally done by places I would not want to rent from anyway If you feel the need to run a background check on your tenants, that should be the cost of doing business Of course those times changed and one of many reasons I stopped renting...

neogodless 10y ago
It costs me $35 to run a background/credit check. I paid for that... once. And the prospective tenant passed, but backed out on the apartment. Since then, I've asked productive tenants to pay the $35 fee. Most are fine with that, and none have backed out from renting once they've paid that small fee. (So far all have cleared the check.)
- syshum 10y ago
  I would only pay it if it was refundable if you refuse me later, that is a compromise I am willing to make Places that have several hundred dollar non-refundable applications fees like the one in the story are the one I take issue with

nraynaud 10y ago

The US housing market is crazy, they creep on their tenants, and make them pay for the creepiness. And then the "background checks" are bullshit anyways because the court records is a mess and nobody has any incentive to keep perfect records (there is no downside to hurting the wrong person).

firebird84 10y ago

It may depend on where you live. Here in south florida, everyone charges these fees. I tried to find complexes without it, and they don't exist. Sometimes you don't have a choice.

metaphorm 10y ago

a signed lease is a legally binding contract. there's no need for a deposit at that point. are you confusing the holding fee "deposit" collected by the leasing office for the security desposit held in escrow by the landlord?