Having just read a post on the BADLANDLORDS website where an ex-tenant wants to file a fair housing complaint against their former landlord for providing a bad/inaccurate reference to their new landlord, I am glad I charge departing residents a small fee * equal to my credit check fee * for rental/income verifications.
I require the tenant sign the verification form, bring it to my office with their check and a SASE to where they want it to go. I complete the paperwork, copy the verification for the tenant file and then mail.
I don't do verbal/phone or fax verifications and I've actually turned away a federal investigator who wanted to do a security clearance on a former tenant because they could not provide the fee to take 30 min of my time.
Wallace S. Gibson, CPM * GIBSON MANAGEMENT GROUP, Ltd.
Central Virginia
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Wallace,
That is a new one. I will have to think about that. We charge for written verifications but do not charge for verbal ones. Our rental application has a clause where the tenant agrees to allow us to release information on their tenancy, so I have not had problems with tenants about releasing the info. I wonder what my collegues in the area would think about us not releasing info readily.
Bob - I started charging a few years ago after I attended a PM conference and found that it was the "norm" in their area. In NoVa/DC area where there are many govnmt employees, PM/landlords must pay and SUBSCRIBE to a service that will provide employment verification for govnmt employees. Our VA state legislature actually increased the amount we can charge for tenant credit applications from $20 to $32 to accommodate the need for this subscription.....charging for landlord verifications/written references has been done in multi-unit properties for many years * especially large properties where bookkeeping is not done on the site.
It is not a profit center as the charge barely covers the time involved to complete the form; however, being able to have a copy of the information provided will be invaluable.
Leslie * residents don't KNOW about the costs unless they want the service....I do have a reference to a "forms fee" in my Resident Handbook and I doubt $25 will break any of my residents...my homes rent from $1,200 to $4,700 per month.
When I started my PM biz in Central VA 10 years ago, NO PM charged a credit check/application fee....I was the FIRST. Now EVERY PM charges a fee - most are more than mine.