Landlords’ responsibility to the community
A few days ago, a businessman from out of town phoned us and was interested in renting one of our apartments in the Highland Ridge area. Before he filled out his application, he arrived, threw down enough money for first month’s rent and the security deposit all in $100 bills. We gave him a receipt, but informed him we would run a background check.
He told us he had a great character and was an out-of-town businessman working on a large account for an insurance company. He explained he and his crew were having a hard time finding an apartment because the gas companies have rented everything and he was tired of staying in hotels. It was costing him over $100 a night, he said.
We told him we understood, but we conduct our business the same for all applicants: proof of income, a background check and current identification were our mainstays. He informed us that he was told since this was not a great area, he wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble. We informed him he would with us.
After running his background, we discovered he had several government liens, a criminal record and had skipped out on a few cable bills. One of his employees had been arrested for drug abuse a few years back. He never showed us identification or his proof of income. He returned a few days later to pick up his deposit.
As landlords we want to be good neighbors. We don’t want any drug activity in our neighborhoods and will do everything to prevent it in our own buildings. Beware of applicants with large amounts of cash that don’t want to show ID, proof of income and, most of all, landlords must do a background check. Let’s do our part to keep our community safe.
Fred Fleet II
Washington
Fleet is the president of the Highland Ridge Community Development Corp.