Sahar Marzouk

I’m Sahar Marzouk and I am 27 years old. Currently, I'm working as a rental application processor for over two years at Bull Property Management, an American company specializing in the real estate.

After graduation, I had the chance to take up my current position which initially had a similar character to freelance work. However, last year our company opened an office in Bizerte, Tunisia under the name 'STE TIV PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, so I am officially working with this company.

My current job consists in processing rental applications;

I first receive an application from an applicant, then I have to request their credit report report (credit history, criminal record, eviction report) from the credit agency (we operate with Equifax), this request is made by email . When I receive the report I first start by analyzing the applicant's credit report which is mainly based on the credit score which must exceed 650 in our case, I must also check if he has recent or open bankruptcies or if he has unpaid debts related to the rental homes where he previously lived.

Next, I'll have to take a look at his criminal record (if he's ever committed any felonies or misdemeanors). And I need to check if he has ever been evicted from a rental house in the last 5 years.

After the credit report analysis, I must also consult the candidate's rental history, so I have to call the previous owners that he listed in his rental application and ask them questions about his tenancy (if the applicant has paid his rent regularly every month, if he has caused damage to the house.. we mainly would like to to know if he has been a good tenant)

And finally, I have to consult his source of income, whether it is social assistance, a regular salary, if he's self-employed... and this is from his proof of income. He can present letters proving his employment, 3 consecutive pay slips or bank statements, income declaration document, to calculate the average of monthly income which must exceed 3 times the amount of the rent.

The decision is based on these three points.

And I've implemented my own points system recently which lists the factors on which the decision is made and each factor is assigned a score.

The last step is the creation of a rental quote which lists the charges that the future tenant must honor after signing the lease and moving into the property they applied for.

My academic curriculum began with a degree in management, with finance as speciality. I also had the opportunity to choose between marketing and management, HR, but I opted for finance, I always had an analytical spirit and I was interested in the digital aspects of this specialty.

After my bachelor's degree, I continued on the same path by obtaining a professional Master's degree in Financial Engineering. During my studies, I completed an internship at the UIB (the International Union of Banks) for my masters degree thesis which analyzes the probability of default of a consumer credit borrower. This experience allowed me to open up to the banking sector and I had the opportunity to process credit files and communicate with customers.