See a Home You Like?

1. If you see a property you are interested in renting please drive by the outside first and then contact our office to set up an appointment to view the home with one of our agents.  Showing appointments are scheduled 9am – 5pm Monday thru Thursday and 9am – 4pm on Fridays.  We do not schedule viewings on Saturday or Sunday.

2. Once you have viewed the inside of a property we will accept an application that can be turned into our office.

3. All adults who plan on living in a property must fill out an application and be put on the lease for that property.  We do not do separate leases.  All adults living in a home together will be on one lease.

4. In order to process your application, our office will need the following items from all applicants and/or co- signers (should a co-signer be permitted):

• A completed Application
• A copy of your Driver’s License
• At least one(whichever applies to you) of the following: A recent pay stub, W2, financial aid award letter or 3 months of bank statements as proof of income.
• A money order or cashier’s checkfor $50.00 per applicant for the application fee (only one application required for married couples)
• A separatemoney order or cashier’s check for the security deposit equal to one month’s rent.

(**IMPORTANT** Check the return policy from wherever you purchase your money orders.  If application is denied the money order for your deposit will be returned to you.  WE WILL NOT CASH THE MONEY ORDER FOR YOU.)

Please have all of these items prior to submitting your application. Roommates will be required to submit all paperwork and security deposit funds at the same time or within 24 hours from each other.

5. Kent Strauss Management approves applications based on a point system.  Applicants must score 13 points or higher to be approved.   The following 5 categories are how we assess the number of points each applicant receives.  Applicants can earn up to 5 or 6 points in each category.

• Credit checks.  We do not go by a certain credit score; rather we compare the amount of positive accounts to the amount of negative accounts and require the applicants to have a greater number of positive accounts.  Student loans and medical bills are not counted.  The greater the positive to negative ratio is, the more points you earn. However, you can be denied if your credit score is below 550.

• Positive rental history.   Applicants must have positive rental history that includes on-time payments, previous units left in good condition, no bounced checks and no evictions.  The longer you’ve rented and the fewer late or NSF payments you’ve had will increase your points.

• Household income of three times the monthly rent.  We take the gross amount of any pay stub and also count loans, grants, scholarships, social security, child support, disability and alimony as income.  If you make tips, commissions or bonuses at your job, provide a letter from owner/manager or last year’s 1099 and those funds will be added to your monthly income as well.  You need to at least make 3 times the monthly rent but the more income applicants make above 3 times the monthly rent, the more points you will earn.

• Job stability.  The longer you have worked in your current job or in your current field, the more points you will earn.

• Background checks.  A light background check will be performed.  Violent Felonies or sexual offense felonies can cause an applicant to be denied.

• Applicant qualification includes verification of previous rental history, satisfactory credit history, and an income requirement of three times the monthly rental amount.  In lieu of income verification, some owners will accept a co-signer or additional deposit.

• A security deposit equal to one month’s rent will be due as valuable consideration in removing a rental home from the market.  Deposit money orders are immediately deposited into our escrow account.  If an application is denied a refund check will be cut back to the applicant for the amount of the deposit once the money order has cleared the account; this usually takes 2-3 business days.  Deposits are fully refundable if an application is denied and if an application is approved, it is fully refundable per fulfillment of the provisions in the lease and accompanying paperwork.

• We can only hold a vacant property for two weeks with a security deposit and approved application unless the owner agrees to extend that time period.

• All lease paperwork must be complete and the first month’s rent paid in full, prior to moving in.  If the first day of the lease is not the first day of the month the rent will be prorated on a daily basis.  If the lease starting date is after the 15^thof the month, a full month’s rent is due upon move-in.  The pro-rated rental amount will be paid the following month. We will not be able to process your application without all required information.

• A premium may be assessed on all leases less than twelve months.

• NO PETS ARE ALLOWED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION.  Unless otherwise stated in the lease, when a rental home allows a pet, a non-refundable pet fee at owner’s discretion will be due at move in.  Pending owner approval, each additional pet may require an additional pet fee.  Aggressive breeds and puppies are not permitted.

• NO CASH ACCEPTED.

6. Application fee, security deposit and first month’s rent must be paid in a money order or cashier check only.