YPM Belize


What, specifically, do you do to qualify a tenant after they have applied to rent my house?

Qualifying tenants is the most important aspect of the successful management of rental property. All application processing is done by YPM.  In general, we look at an applicant's income, credit payment history, and past behavior, from which we assess possible future behavior. An applicant must demonstrate a history of being a good, responsible tenant or homeowner as well as meeting the industry standard financial criteria. Nobody in Belize provides as careful a screening of their tenants as we do.

LANDLORD REFERENCES - We personally talk to past landlords and ask detailed, open ended questions about the applicant's past performance.

CREDIT REPORT – We may utilize the Belize Credit Bureau as a source of credit information. From an obtained credit report, we can determine whether the applicant’s current and past performance toward meeting financial obligations warrants tenancy.  An applicant must have current clean credit to qualify.

DRIVER LICENSE VERIFICATION - We pull a copy of the applicant's public driver’s license data. This tells us not only if the addresses given on the application are consistent, but also when and what the last driver’s license activity was, such as a renewal or change of address. This is important because if someone says they have been living at a certain address for the past three years, but then we see they renewed their driver’s license a year ago at a different address, it may be a sign situation that the applicant is trying to conceal bad rental history.

PROPERTY TAX SEARCH – To avoid risk to YPM, and to deter fraud, you must be the legal landlord, or lease-land holder in order for us to accept, or list your property for rent, and a legible copy of the lease and/or deed must be provided for our files, as proof of ownership prior to our acceptance of an agreement to manage the rental of any property.
We use the copy to research whether the document is valid and whether a fraud is perpetrated.

EMPLOYMENT/INCOME - We call the employer to verify length of employment, status, and income. An applicant needs to earn at least 3 to 4 times the monthly rent in gross income to qualify for rental.  A copy of a pay stub, may also be retained in the tenant’s files, as proof of income.  Those who are day laborers, or who are self-employed, will need to pay a larger security deposit will be required.

PUBLIC DATA SEARCH – Whenever and wherever possible, YPM will investigate a prospective tenant’s references to crosscheck, in the event that the past rental history shows that the applicant was previously evicted. Along with the credit report we believe additional research in the references provided will enable better control of the tenant/landlord relationships.

PETS - We do not allow animals/pets into managed properties, unless you direct us to do so, or unless not doing so results in an unacceptable length of vacancy. It can be very difficult to manage the behavior of animals, and to allow animals/pets in your property, when you specifically forbid it, is cause for great concern. Pets can be the single biggest source of problems and property damage.  Therefore, the practice of allowing pets is highly discouraged. This situation will be monitored.

OTHER FACTORS - Our managed properties may be subject to certain restrictions such as no boats, trailers, and limits on the type and number of vehicles, or other over-sized item. In this case, a qualified applicant may be unable to lease the property due to such a restriction.  These are the type of issues, we ensure are covered up front to avoid surprises after a tenant moves in.