Do you have a great tenant, but their credit score scares you a little bit? As a property management company, here at Black and Cherry Real Estate of course we look at people who have a good record of paying their bills on time, but we do also help people with no so good credit because in reality not everyone has perfect credit!

Some property managers cannot rely only on people who have good credit if they want to keep their properties full and their owners happy. There are a couple things as a property manager you can look out for when renting to people with no so good credit that can either be a red flag, or the best tenant that has every lived in the home!

When you are signing a lease with a new tenant and their credit is not the best, try and get them to have a cosigner with them, even if they are not fully on the lease having a back up person that is reliable and can help if things go south in the property will truly have not only you, but your owner feeling at ease with the new tenant.

Also with younger kids, because they might have good credit, but they also might not have enough credit established or rental history to go off of, so having a cosigner for them could truly make a big difference when you are starting to rent out your owners home! Asking for a larger deposit from the potential tenant could also make your owner feel a little better about renting to someone with little credit!

Having something for your owner to fall back on if the property gets messed up or if the tenant abandons the home, your own will be able to cover the cost to get it back up and ready for a new tenant!  Not only can you get a few extra bucks for the deposit, if legal or possible, you can also ask for rent in advance! Like 2 months of rent with their deposit that they will get back if they complete the lease, and leave the home in the condition they got it in! That will put the tenant at paying a month in advance every month on the due date, and the owner will have rent to fall back on if they fail to pay their payments!

Try to require automatic payments! Requesting this can ensure that you will receive the rent on the property on the day it is due every month and the tenant will not have to worry about getting it paid every month! If that is not possible, try and communicate! Sending a renter a text/email every month a week in advance will ensure that they will not forget about their rent payments coming up, and will also give the renter no excuse as to why the rent was late!

With a few of these tips, you might be at ease with giving a renter with little to no credit a chance! Just remember to also have a backup plan! You can never be too safe these days! Happy Reading!