Self Help

There are a number of leases and various contracts you’ll want to use for your real estate rental business. Most of the forms and examples you will find out there are just that, examples. You can make up your own to fit your particular needs. Below you will get a basic outline of a rental contract and you can use what you want from it.

The rental contract starts before you’ve made any commitment to that potential tenant about renting an apartment. This will give you enough preliminary information to let you know if you want to proceed with the application.

First, put the name of your firm or your personal name at the top of the form, then list the location of the property and the apartment or unit number. Next, be sure to add the number of people that will occupy the location. (This is suggested because, if you have a one or two bedroom apartment and an applicant has several children, you’ll know ahead of time and can eliminate the tenant by simply telling him or her that the apartment isn’t large enough for the family.)

As you create your rental application, there are specific kinds of information you want applicants to provide:

1. The applicant’s name.
2. The applicant’s Social Security number (You’ll want the Social Security number because you need it to get a credit report).
3. Date of birth (You’ll want to know if the applicant is a teenager or mature adult.)
4. The applicant’s current address and a permanent home address (If the applicant is a student, you’ll want to know their permanent address in case you have to get in touch with a family member.)
5. The make, model, and year of the applicant’s vehicle
6. The license number and state of the vehicle (You may also want to ask if the car is insured and the name of the carrier.)
7. The applicant’s driver’s license number.
8. The applicant’s source(s) of income, the employer’s name, and the company’s phone number.
9. The applicant’s job title (and possibly his or her supervisor’s name).
10. How long the individual has been with that company.
11. The applicant’s income by either the month or the year. (Employment information is important because it provides financial facts about applicants)
12. The name of the applicant’s bank, its address and phone number, and the type of accounts the applicant has (checking, savings).
13. The person’s current landlord, his or her phone number, the address of the rented property, amount of monthly rent, length of tenancy, and his or her reason for moving (You may want to ask for one other previous landlord and request the same information about that landlord.)
14. A couple of personal references (names, addresses, phone numbers, and relationship to the applicant). (You’ll want to have this information in case you want to get in touch with the tenant at some point in the future.)