NY Times: Only the Strong Survive
The New York Times knocked on our door, asked me our secrets, took my photo and published a lead story in their Real Estate section.
The Times asked: In a strong Manhattan rental market, just how good do your credentials need to be?
The answer: Only the strongest survive.
New York heavyweights weighed in their experience with screening residents, using as many dog references as possible:
Citi Habitats:
"It’s very pro-tenant here in terms of the courts. To evict someone who isn’t paying, it can take six months to go through the right legal process."
Manhattan Skyline Management:
"More information is always helpful, as far as we’re concerned."
Us:
"We have people all the time with a 700 to 800 FICO score, but their landlord-tenant record is horrible. We called the former landlord of a woman who had moved to New York from Georgia. Although her income and credit were excellent, her ex-landlord reported that she had not paid the rent for three months and abandoned her dog when she left."
Anita Ray, who thought her credit was good enough:
"It kind of makes you feel like you’ve done something wrong. You feel like a kicked puppy or something."
Glenwood Management:
"For some reason, when people go into a divorce, if it’s nasty, people stop paying their bills more often than not."
Archstone-Smith:
"You shouldn’t have the same feeling in your stomach as when your dentist tells you that you need a root canal."
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