When we receive a tenancy application, we are looking for two main things:
- Affordability – is the income of the applicant(s) enough to pay the rent plus leave money left over for essentials – i.e. food, electricity, motor vehicles, savings, etc? A good rule of thumb is that the rent should not exceed more than 30% of the total income being earned
- Someone who will look after the premises – do they have good references from their current landlord/agent? Do they have good character references?
How do we check for affordability?
At the time of submitting their application, we will ask the applicant(s) to provide us with their proof of income. This could be:
- Two (2) most recent payslips
- A letter of offer
- Centrelink Statements
What if they supply fraudulent documents?
We will also contact the employer to confirm the details they have provided. Just in case someone is trying to pull the wool over our eyes, we will search for a landline and ask to speak to payroll/HR or the owner of the business (depending on the size).
If the applicant is casual, we will look to see what their average earnings are per pay. We also check the Year To Date (YTD) figures.
In some cases, we may also ask for bank statements showing the earnings being deposited.
We will contact their current landlord or property manager to confirm if they pay on time.
In cases where a private landlord is listed, we will complete an RP Data search to check:
- The name provided matches up with the name on the title
- Check to see if the property has ever been advertised by a real estate ‘for rent’. If it has, we contact the listed agency
