Possible tenant wants to pay 6 months of rent in advance..

[freedomsbeat212]

Have a vacant apartment in Brooklyn that I've listed for $1700 - a fair price for a 2 bedroom duplex. An early 20-year-old (one student/pt worker one full time worker) and her friend came to see the place and loved it and took an application to fill out - they wanted to put a deposit on it but I suggested that we wait until credit approval comes in.

Anyways, that's all normal. What's odd is that the working individual asked if she could pay six months in advance, if approved. I asked her why and she said that she has the money saved up and that it would be easier on her to get it out of the way while she has the money.

I'm getting a big red flag - should I be concerned? Of course the usual credit/background/eviction check will take place but should I be concerned if her report comes out positive? My immediate thought was "funds acquired through possibly illegal ways!"

[preslove]

Ask her how much she charges for an all-the-way escort session.

[krylon]

pics of potential tenants or shens

[freedomsbeat212]

Originally Posted by krylon

pics of potential tenants or shens

who the fuck takes pictures of people seeing their rental unit.. CREEPY..

This isn't one of my ancient YAGTs, I've moved on

[Soundmanred]

I've done this before. I had the money and got tired of having to drop it off or have the LL come over every month, so I gave him 7 months in advance. Which was good since it was around Xmas and he wanted to buy a car for his daughter.

[zCypher]

Originally Posted by freedomsbeat212

who the fuck takes pictures of people seeing their rental unit.. CREEPY..

This isn't one of my ancient YAGTs, I've moved on

Come on, you should have seen that one coming

Honestly, this doesn't raise a red flag for me at all. The first time I moved out, with my GF at the time, 6 months of rent was paid in advance. Why should you have a problem with accepting that payment?

[TheVrolok]

In college I paid each year in advance, up front. Some people just don't feel like dealing with paying rent monthly if they have the cash on hand.

[Spikesoldier]

if you dont suspect her of cooking up crack or meth in your kitchen, id say take the money and rent her out. maybe she has rich parents or a large student loan

[kami333]

The tenant is taking all the risk by pre-paying. I've pre-paid 6months to 1 year in the past to get a discount, but I wouldn't want to risk it in this economic environment.

If she is cooking meth or something illegal you can still evict her (which you'd have to do anyways).

[Schadenfroh]

I offered to pay an entire year in advanced for an apartment's lease to avoid dealing with certain income verification issues once, they denied it and then I denied the lease.

[EagleKeeper]

I have relocated and taken relo funds to purchase a lease for # months that I need up front. It can make it easier to get the lease vs someone else and you do not then have to worry about sending in payment each month. Also, sometimes that can get you a discount from the owner because they have the funds upfront for their use.

[Modelworks]

If the lease is for 6 months then I see no problem. If it is 1 year then I don't know. The term "while she has the money" implies that I'm good for 6 months but month 7 I may not be able to pay.

[Ms. DICKINSON]

I'm smelling Nigerian scams coming. Thank me for remembering this: I was listening Marketplace on NPR station two weeks ago about this situation you're in. Here's an excerpt:

Harris: Well, the fact is there are some really low-hanging kind of scams that are obvious scams.
Vigeland: The Nigerian banker.
Harris: The Nigerian banker, we've all heard of the Nigerian banker, but the fact is the way these scams work, the way they're packaged, can be much more sophisticated.
Vigeland: Can you give us an example of that?
Harris: This is from one of my readers. She had a house and she was letting out a room. She heard from a woman who said she was in London. She said, "Oh, I'm coming to school in Cleveland. This room sounds perfect for me." There was a lot of back-and-forth emails. And the girl sent a deposit check for the deposit and the first few months of rent. And shortly after that, the girl contacted her back and said, "My father has been in a terrible accident. I can't come to school anymore. I need that money back to help take care of him. Please keep the deposit. Please send me back my rent money." Well, what kind of human can hear a plea like that? And not do it?
Vigeland: Of course.
Harris: And lo and behold the check turned out to be fake. All of these scams have in common that you get a check and you're asked to deposit it. Any ordinary person thinks, when that money shows up in your bank account the check has cleared. That is not the case. What happens is, the bank is responsible to get you your money within a certain amount of time. Money for your checks you deposit. It meant, they're coming up against their deadlines so they're making that money available to you. When they find out that check is counterfeit, they take the money back out of your account.
Vigeland: What kind of time frame are we talking about then? I mean how long should you wait before finding out that that check actually did clear and was a valid check?
Harris: Wait three weeks, wait four weeks. Wait a month. Sit on it. You have to make sure that you're going to be OK at the end of this.
Vigeland: I understand that also this is not just a cautionary tale for individuals, but corporations can get caught up in these kinds of scams.
---
Listen to full show: MP3 (skip to this topic)
Full transcript of above conversation.

[krylon]

Originally Posted by freedomsbeat212

who the fuck takes pictures of people seeing their rental unit.. CREEPY..

This isn't one of my ancient YAGTs, I've moved on

weak

and shens

[loki8481]

what's the worst that happens?

you find out she's cooking meth 3 months down the line and you've got some extra money after you evict her.

[Krazy4Real]

Overreacting yet again.

[AndroidVageta]

If anything OP...just to avoid fraudulent checks and what not...if she HAS the money request cash for the first 6 months...of course have it well documented and what not...

Other than that I dont find it odd at all. When I was living in Texas the house I was renting I paid all rent for the year lease up front to avoid having to deal with it.

Like I said, not suspicious but on something like this I would either take cash only or wait til the check 100% clears the bank. At that point you cant be held responsible if the money is stolen or whatever.

[jtvang125]

Originally Posted by Ms. DICKINSON

I'm smelling Nigerian scams coming. Thank me for remembering this: I was listening Marketplace on NPR station two weeks ago about this situation you're in. Here's an excerpt:

Harris: Well, the fact is there are some really low-hanging kind of scams that are obvious scams.
Vigeland: The Nigerian banker.
Harris: The Nigerian banker, we've all heard of the Nigerian banker, but the fact is the way these scams work, the way they're packaged, can be much more sophisticated.
Vigeland: Can you give us an example of that?
Harris: This is from one of my readers. She had a house and she was letting out a room. She heard from a woman who said she was in London. She said, "Oh, I'm coming to school in Cleveland. This room sounds perfect for me." There was a lot of back-and-forth emails. And the girl sent a deposit check for the deposit and the first few months of rent. And shortly after that, the girl contacted her back and said, "My father has been in a terrible accident. I can't come to school anymore. I need that money back to help take care of him. Please keep the deposit. Please send me back my rent money." Well, what kind of human can hear a plea like that? And not do it?
Vigeland: Of course.
Harris: And lo and behold the check turned out to be fake. All of these scams have in common that you get a check and you're asked to deposit it. Any ordinary person thinks, when that money shows up in your bank account the check has cleared. That is not the case. What happens is, the bank is responsible to get you your money within a certain amount of time. Money for your checks you deposit. It meant, they're coming up against their deadlines so they're making that money available to you. When they find out that check is counterfeit, they take the money back out of your account.
Vigeland: What kind of time frame are we talking about then? I mean how long should you wait before finding out that that check actually did clear and was a valid check?
Harris: Wait three weeks, wait four weeks. Wait a month. Sit on it. You have to make sure that you're going to be OK at the end of this.
Vigeland: I understand that also this is not just a cautionary tale for individuals, but corporations can get caught up in these kinds of scams.
---
Listen to full show: MP3 (skip to this topic)
Full transcript of above conversation.

The op mentioned they showed up personally to check out the place so I doubt it's those scams since they deal exclusively through email.

[sandorski]

Red Flag? I'd be all, "Hell's YES!!!!!" maybe do a few "chaching!!!"s and other ridiculous shit.

[Gooberlx2]

Just ask for payment in the form of a certified check from their bank...or cash. Chances of Nigerian scammage are slim since you've already dealt with them face-to-face.

I've paid multiple months, on a short-term lease, up front for the same reason. I had it in the account at that moment and it was easier/better for me to just unload it and not worry about it later.

At my college town, pretty much all the slumlords required 4 months rent, plus deposit, plus postdated checks for the rest of the lease, all in advance....those assholes.

[Uhtrinity]

One of my tenants did this a few years ago. Sure beats trying to track down monthly rent checks. I would say that most of those doing this are either on student loans or other fixed incomes and may be afraid they might spend the money. She also be overly responsible, regardless you are good for 6 months.

[classy]

Thats a little odd. I mean if she is responsible enough to save it, then you would think she would be responsible enough to pay on time monthly, even if the money is saved.

[AndroidVageta]

Originally Posted by classy

Thats a little odd. I mean if she is responsible enough to save it, then you would think she would be responsible enough to pay on time monthly, even if the money is saved.

No...no...not really. Have you read any of the other responses here?

[adlep]

Originally Posted by freedomsbeat212

Have a vacant apartment in Brooklyn that I've listed for $1700 - a fair price for a 2 bedroom duplex. An early 20-year-old (one student/pt worked one full time worked) and her friend came to see the place and loved it and took an application to fill out - they wanted to put a deposit on it but I suggested that we wait until credit approval comes in.

Anyways, that's all normal. What's odd is that the working individual asked if she could pay six months in advance, if approved. I asked her why and she said that she has the money saved up and that it would be easier on her to get it out of the way while she has the money.

I'm getting a big red flag - should I be concerned? Of course the usual credit/background/eviction check will take place but should I be concerned if her report comes out positive? My immediate thought was "funds acquired through possibly illegal ways!"

Is she Russian?
If yes, marry her and play with her nice big titties for a while. She will dump you eventually though so use it as much as you can while you can.

[blackangst1]

I dont think its a red flag in and of itself.