Wednesday, May 8, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
23
Applying for rental killed my credit
Dear
Property Guy
By Mike Zoormajian
Dear Property Guy,
With the shortage of decent
rentals, I applied to a few
places at once. I9ve always had
pretty good credit, but the place
I really liked refused me for bad
credit. What9s going on?
4 Mad in Madras
Dear Mad:
It all starts with FICO, which
originally stood for Fair, Isaac,
and Company. Now it9s just a
number between 300 and 850
that indicates creditworthiness.
Plan on having a FICO score
above 620 if you want to rent
anything.
A lot of voodoo goes into
a FICO score, but one com-
ponent is the number of <hard
inquires.= A hard inquiry is a
type of credit check done by
mortgage and auto lenders,
credit card companies, or (wait
for it) landlords. These inquiries
stay on record for two years,
and negatively affect it for one
year. Each inquiry reduces your
score by about 5 points.
All housing-related inqui-
ries within a 45-day period are
supposed to be counted as one,
but this doesn9t always happen.
So barring a landlord acciden-
tally pulling duplicate inquires
(which can happen), I suspect
that multiple hard inquiries
pulled your score down. Best to
pull your own credit report and
dig deeper.
A landlord can also do a
<soft inquiry.= This provides
the same info, but does not neg-
atively affect your credit. That9s
why it9s important for renters to
ask what sort of credit check is
performed before applying.
4 Mike
Dear Property Guy,
I have a rental house with
pretty good tenants. They seem
to take care of the house, but I
have heard horror stories about
major damage, and it9s keeping
me up at night.
4 Concerned in Carlsbad
Dear Concerned:
The best way to ensure good
tenants is to screen hard (yet
legally) up front. Right now,
it9s time to familiarize yourself
with the concept of inspections.
Easiest is the monthly (or
weekly) drive-by. Is the house
still there? Landscaping OK?
987 Chevy up on blocks? These
are all clues.
I give a week9s notice,
and do an initial 30-day walk
through. Looking for lease vio-
lations, unsafe or unsanitary
conditions, and things that will
damage the property. I check
appliances, smoke detectors,
and ensure nothing9s leaking. I
fix most issues on the spot, and
folks seem to appreciate the
check-in.
After that, I do half-yearly
inspections, ensuring the place
is set-up for next season. This
may mean furnace filters, chim-
ney and gutters clear, or pine
needles raked.
Inspections shouldn9t be a
big deal. It9s a good opportu-
nity to ensure your tenants are
not only taking care of your
property, but being taken care
of by you.
4 Mike
Mike Zoormajian is principal
at WetDog Properties in Sisters,
OR, providing local property
management and investor ser-
vices. Questions, comments to:
letters@wetdogpnw.com
Free legal advice is worth
what you pay for it. Consult a
real attorney before doing any-
thing crazy.
PHOTO PROVIDED
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Everybody knows that the growing season in Sisters
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The Central Oregon chapter of OSU Master Gardener
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Gardeners will learn how to choose and propagate
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" Saturday, May 11, 10 to 11 a.m. at Hollinshead
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" Thursday, May 30, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Northwest
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