responses to CL ads - Landlord Forum thread

responses to CL ads by Mr. B. Positive (NJ) on August 10, 2012 @13:02

Hi all,

What do you do when an applicant responds to a CL ad and is obviously not a good fit for your multi-family unit?

Such as they have 2 large dogs and you're advertising a studio, they are looking to move in months from now, but want to see it anyway (just in case!) or their email is just plain weird (like, written by a psycho, babbling about irrelevant topics), etc.

We usually respond to everyone, but sometimes it feels like a big waste of time.

Is there any risk to just deleting emails from people we don't want to deal with? Any legal risk?

Thanks

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Re: responses to CL ads by NY-LL on August 10, 2012 @13:10	[ Reply ]

The apartment advertisement should specify the qualifications required for rental. Otherwise, the landlord will receive multiple inquiries from all sources including the unqualified. Just state it in detail, if the apartment requirement is for no pets, no smoking, specific income/credit/references. There is no requirement to respond to non-sense inquiries, otherwise.

Re: responses to CL ads by Micah on August 10, 2012 @14:02	[ Reply ]

Ignore them or just use a form letter response.

Re: responses to CL ads by Johnson (CT) on August 10, 2012 @15:51	[ Reply ]

I agree with NY-LL's response. When you place the CL add be very specific - they are free so don't worry about how long it is. To date CL has been my only source of advertisement and dead beat repsonse hasn't been a real problem although there are always some. I list all pertinent details and always post photos. If I get an "out there" repsonse I reply quoting from my CL list what qualification they lack.

Re: responses to CL ads by Cassie (WA) on August 13, 2012 @12:27	[ Reply ]

I definitely agree that listing all the details of the house should help to get people who are really going to meet your criteria. I also have found that when I use CL to list my rentals, I have to screen them well. I use E-Renter.com to make sure that they are there is nothing that they are trying to hide from me. (http://www.e-renter.com/) The last thing I need in my rental is a criminal.