Tenant Application Epilogue

After recently writing the two pieces on the importance of and what to put in the tenant application, the following headline appeared in a local newspaper this past week: "Rentals prompt federal charges: tenants said to be illegal immigrants". If, even after reading my prior posts, you still aren't thoroughly vetting your applicants with a good application process, maybe this will encourage you. The article starts, "A father and son who own two large Lexington apartment complexes have been ordered to appear in U.S. District Court Friday to answer charges that they rented to at least 60 illegal immigrants..."

Going after landlords who rent to illegal immigrants is a shift in policy by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials that you need to be aware of. A spokesman for ICE said "It's a priority". Doing a little internet searching confirms this; for example, Arizona is considering a bill that will make it illegal for landlords to rent to anyone without papers proving they are in the country legally. Since the government can't control the border, apparently there will be more push to make landlords pick up the slack.

One paragraph in particular in the Lexington article stands out: "The indictment alleges that once the (defendants) began renting to illegal immigrants, they changed their rental policies and quit requiring credit checks, proof of identification and Social Security numbers." So, having a solid application process in place not only protects you from bad tenants, it helps protect you from accusations like this. It's no small matter. The penalties in this case are up to 30 years in prison, $750,000 in fines and the forfeiture of the buildings. Don't let it happen to you.