Many individuals and companies that rent a home require a credit or background check. With the current increase in bankruptcy and foreclosure rates, your landlord may need to require the same credit and background checks on your potential landlord.

A background check should include a credit check, criminal records, transfers or sales of part or all of real estate, pending court judgments, outstanding bad checks, multiple driver’s licenses, multiple names, more than one passport, personal and corporate bankruptcies in current, past bankruptcies, past lawsuits, current lawsuits, and tax ties. This background check can be extended to include the loss of legal and medical professional credentials. Look carefully at the records of multiple drug and DUI arrests. Never assume that a person with professional credentials is ethical. My previous real estate experience gives me pause to understand that even judges and ministers can behave unethically and illegally in their personal real estate transactions. Do not assume that any profession is exempt from misconduct.

Real estate agents can provide the landlord with a false sense of security. Real estate agents generally serve as a buffer and eliminate or reduce any issues for either side of the rental transaction. Unethical landlords can also victimize real estate agents. A lease in an expensive neighborhood can require deposits of up to ten thousand dollars or more. There may be additional deposits for apartments with a garage or pets.

My experience in renting a house in Austin will clarify many of the issues that can arise. My lease required a large security and pet deposit for a beautiful home in one of Austin’s best neighborhoods. A prestigious and respected Austin real estate firm handled the lease for this home. Initially, the landlord did not make the repairs agreed upon as part of the lease prior to move-in. The Austin Tenants Council provided guidance on moving out of the property. I did not follow your advice due to time and expense. Do not move into a rental property where the agreed upon repairs have not been made. This house later entered bankruptcy court in Texas when the owner filed for bankruptcy.

The courts and Texas do not accommodate this situation very well for the landlord. I tried very hard to get guidance from the bankruptcy court on how to handle paying rent to a landlord who is bankrupt for the second time and has more than three thousand dollars of my money in deposits. There was a total disregard for my situation. I had a total of five trips to court or to the bankruptcy trustee. The landlord did several things that were illegal, including trying to evict me from a property and ordering me to vacate a property for half a month when the rent was paid in full. I never received my deposit back and a bankruptcy judge refused to order my deposit back. The real estate agents were not paid by the owner. The laws of the State of Texas are not enough to protect people who are not lawyers.

In bankruptcy matters where you are the landlord, your home will go into the care of a bankruptcy court and your trustee. You will be at the mercy of an institution that cares little about you and your financial situation or your safety. Your primary relationship is with the bankrupt landlord who used to own or control your home. I had this situation and I tried to contact the bankruptcy court judges by certified mail on three separate occasions and went in person to speak with the trustee. They gave me no information on who to pay and told me to contact a lawyer if I wanted to know anything.

Landlord issues that can directly affect the landlord include landlord credit problems, delinquent property taxes, late mortgage payments, failure to make home repairs, failure to return phone calls, failure to be reimbursed for required repairs , non-response to mail, many civil laws against landlord, criminal record, bankruptcies, multiple divorces, and multiple simultaneous deaths in the landlord’s family.
Imagine that you are in a house and you discover that the owner has a criminal record related to murder. In most states, the landlord has the key to the house that he has rented from you. You could be in a situation where the killer has the key to the house that he is renting. If the landlord is a convicted felon for stealing personal property, he has a different type of security problem.

Be sure to understand the full range of issues associated with renting a home and how your rights may not be protected. These problems will occur much more frequently as bankruptcy rates rise. Do your research before your lease is signed. It may also be prudent to check the taxes at the county courthouse to see if they are current on your prospective rental property.

©Dr R Stone, MD in Alternative Medicine-India