Difficult times for landlords and tenants

The bad economy is causing difficulties for landlords and tenants.  Landlords are having a hard time collecting rent and evictions are on the rise.  Tenants wages are not keeping up with the cost of living. Recently in Yonkers, tenants and landlords met with the Westchester County Rent Guidelines Committee ti discuss the issue.

Sounding much more dire than in past years, some landlords said they are essentially down to no profit and are having to sell their regulated buildings. One owner warned that it could get bad enough that owners might begin abandoning buildings like they did in the early 1990s.

If you’re just getting in the landlord business, it’s more important than ever to screen your potential tenants.  While you can always evict a problem tenant, it’s a costly experience and takes a long time.  Protect yourself from the start by thoroughly screening your tenants with tenant background check.  We recommend running a tenant credit report, which will show their current debt obligations, debt-to-income ratios, previous late payments, and any loans they have failed to pay back, or bankruptcy.  In these times it’s important to verify income, so ask for a paycheck stub.  Compare this information to the credit report; some people live outside their means and you may want to pick a tenant that is not heavily leveraged.

 It’s important to know the laws and statutes of your city, county, state and federal for your area.  Keep these in mind before you begin your journey as a landlord.  

 background checks
bad economy
landlords