[joshuaheard]

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.

[syshum]

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]

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]

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

[fwefwwfe]

> 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]

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.

[joobus]

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.

[trome]

Citation? This doesn't match my experience in Austin.

[Shivetya]

Doubtful there is a law for it but there are two good reasons to want a copy of an id.

Safety of agent. Proof of compliance with fair housing laws.

[romanows]

Matches mine in Austin.

[4ad]

How does this work with landlords that do "direct sells" and there is no office?

[35bge57dtjku]

Same thing happens in Seattle.

[trome]

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]

> 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.

[win_ini]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[bdowling]

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]

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.

[ufmace]

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]

Are you implying they are doing some kind of instant background check with the ID? If not, what good is checking ID?

[67726e]

The knowledge that you won't get away with rape, kidnap, or robbery acts as a deterrent.

[PeterisP]

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]

Good job there is not such thing as false ID

[empressplay]

Ditto with Australia, you have to show picture ID at inspections (which you must attend before applying).

[erik998]

I think this is the common practice in FL and part of the rules of being a realtor.

[4ad]

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]

Unfortunately in the UK landlords are obliged to perform immigration checks: 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]

That rule in the UK is very new, and also controversial.

[taejo]

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.

[magic_beans]

What, you've never lived in France? It's RIDICULOUSLY common in Paris (though probably not legal? who knows).

[wccrawford]

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

[Broken_Hippo]

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.

[metaphorm]

"background check" in America almost always means credit report and little besides that.

[nraynaud]

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]

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]

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?

[ransom1538]

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.