I am a long term renter. 5 years in my current rental. 7 years in the one before and 4 in the one before that. I have never had a problem with my landlords and have always increased the value of each home I have been in. In my search for a rental to cut down and costs and pay off things still looming over my head from Hurricane Katrina I need to downsize financially. I am withing my budget of what I can pay, by myself or with a roommate. when ONLY wanting to see a property to see if I like it or not I was instructed that I needed to be pre approved to even view the Rental. I have gone through 6 other real estate agencies and rental offices who are dramatically larger than this one. NO one to date has asked for the amount of information you have. After I complied, only wanting to see the property , never committing to anything with anyone, I was instructed that I could only afford $1135. I make $3200 a month and I know what my monthly bills are and wouldn't approach a rental I couldn't stay in long term. Its insulting with the stellar track record I have and value I bring to a place that I have been diminished to a projection that has nothing to do with me. I will never recommend anyone to you who is looking to rent. The other 6 places will get the business from people I know of all financial demographics. I just wanted to land well with nice people who would let me take care of their home as if it were mine. but to be Told I could select something for myself that isn't what I want but what you want for me based on your mathematics. its ridiculous. I went through 3 landlords at my last home in New Orleans b/c the duplex was sold twice. both times it was sold the inspectors told the buyers to never get rid of my b/c that how much improvement I made to the existing home at my cost. you have my landlords numbers. Call and see. this was a mistake. All I wanted to do was see one property. just look and say yes or no. I sounded like it was cute but might have been to small. I will be surprised if you last. Nobody wants to jump through these kinds of hoops and then be told what their allowed to choose to live in, or should I say settle for. How demeaning. Losing everything in a hurricane was bad enough. Moving for the first time since then isn't a picnic. When you know you have a stellar reputation as a renter and someone treats you right off the bat like your going to screw them over, why would i ever want anyone to feel like i do right now. Never again........
RESPONSE FROM Renttoday.us:
Your absolutely correct, Allison. It would be poor judgement on our part to allow tenants who have almost 50 of their income going to rent to lease our homes. Our target DTI (debt to income ratio) is 30 which means you should make about 3 times the rental amount. In your case you only make 2 times and that is why we recommended another property which might be more affordable. This is our policy and it is done to protect our property owners from having to evict tenants who are not qualified. In addition, our application process is absolutely free and just takes a few minutes. If a prospective tenant is not willing to invest a few minutes into a potential home they might live in for the next few years then we do not consider them to be serious prospects. I'm sorry you are not happy with the fact that your $3200 (gross) income does not support a $1500 rental but it is a mathematical fact. And the thought proces that "I know what I can afford" was valid we wouldn't be in the current economic foreclosure crisis we are in today! Again, I am sorry this did not work out and we are in busines to make leases happen not put up road blocks but there are certain standards we must adhere to and income is the most vital. Good luck.
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