Steps to Renting a Home from Block & Associates Realty

Rental Offer & Application

1. Choose the home or homes you are interested in from our website.  Our website is updated every day with new listings and other changes/updates.
2. Drive by each home to make sure you like the location and neighborhood.  Our website includes a map for each property next to the home description.
3. Contact our office to arrange a showing of the homes you are interested in renting.  Discuss with our firm any credit issues you may have.
4. Once you have selected the home you wish to rent, complete our Rental Offer Form.  Make sure you include all requested information…phone numbers are important.  Fill in the top of your Rental Offer with the property address, your desired move in date and lease term and rental price of the home. Our application fees are $85 per person plus a $5 convenience fee (total of $90).
5. Your Rental Offer will be presented to the Homeowner/Landlord and upon acceptance, the credit processing will be initiated.  We will receive the following…
   1. Employment Verification
   2. Experian credit report
   3. Rental and/or mortgage verification
   4. Nationwide criminal check
6. You will be asked to provide recent pay stubs. We will also reach out to your employer to verify your salary. If you are self-employed, we will need a copy of your 1099 or tax return for the last two years.  If you are retired, we will need a recent bank statement and tax return for the last two years.
7. Your credit report and other verifications will be reviewed with the landlord, who will make the final decision, and you will then be notified. Upon owner’s approval of your Rental Offer and credit and background verifications, you agree to pay a $290 non-refundable administrative fee and earnest money equal to one month’s rent.

Please Note:  Block & Associates Realty does not handle the property management of all homes once the home is rented.  Many landlords choose to manage their own rental properties.  Therefore, if it is important for you to know who will handle the management once you move-in and/or who will be holding your Tenant Security Deposit, (Block or the landlord), please ask the agent you are working with when viewing the home.

It typically takes a couple of days to complete the credit processing.  We will do our best to make this process as quick and “painless” as possible.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

Important Information Regarding Craigslist

Block & Associates does not advertise its rental properties on Craigslist.  Please be aware that many of the rental listings on Craigslist are fraudulent.  Keep in mind the following tips when dealing with the landlords who post on Craigslist:

• Never wire money to pay for a rental.
• Never mail checks or money to a PO Box.
• Out of town/out of country landlords (absentee landlords) almost always hire a local professional rental company to manage their rental homes.
• Deal with local landlords only.  If a landlord won’t meet you at the property, run away.  If the landlord cannot meet you at the property because he’s out of the country (usually a missionary or doctor in Africa), run away.
• If you are from out of town, peruse our website to get an idea of rental rates in our
  area.  If the deal on Craigslist sounds to good to be true, it is a scam.
• If a ‘local’ management company does not have an actual office, don’t deal with them.
• If you get an email response from an owner who tells you ‘just go by the house, the current tenant will let you in for a look,’ it is a scam.
• If you go by a house and there is a realty sign in the yard, you must contact that company to view the home.
• If you are a legitimate landlord, and you receive a response to your ad from a potential tenant asking for your banking info so he can wire you the deposit, it is a scam.