E-Renter News

As a landlord or property manager, you’ve probably seen it all when it comes to a tenant’s previous rental history reports. The facts are that some of your applicants have lived in non-traditional housing, or where it’s difficult to verify whether they paid on time or had any other problems:

Mom and Dad, Grandma, Aunt or Uncle: What family member is going to tell you that your potential tenant paid rent on time? What if they didn’t pay rent at all? You might get the true story out of a family member, but in general, they don’t make the best references.

Pay-by-the-week motels: These places don’t require applications or leases. They don’t verify employment or do credit checks. They don’t require more than a small payment at a time. Finding out from a motel that your applicant paid on time is not an indicator that they will live up to the terms of a lease agreement.

Their “friend” the landlord: Sure, living in a friend’s spare bedroom or on their couch is a typical living situation. The problem is that if the friend wants the couch back, then giving you a good reference is in the friend’s best interest.

If a tenant presents a previous landlord that doesn’t meet your standards, you are under no obligation to accept it. Consider stating in your application that “Parents, relatives, and pay-by-the-week motels will not be accepted as landlord references.”

Most of the landlords and property managers we know would say that problem tenants are made, not born. A basic truth is that we are treated the way we allow others to treat us—and that includes tenants.

Being a landlord or property manager is not for the faint of heart. It takes a strong personality and great self-confidence to establish and enforce rules. It takes a great communicator to deal with a wide variety of personalities and backgrounds. And it takes a real people person to provide great service to their tenants.

Still, issues and challenges arise in every people-centered business—and the rental property business is no exception. The best way to deal with problems tenants is, of course, to avoid the problems in the first place:

• Tenant late with rent? The more you tolerate it, the more you’ll be dealing with it. Tenants who know that late rent means late fees and then eviction notices either pay on time or live somewhere else. Problem solved.
• Tenant didn’t pay all the security deposit when she moved in—and now you’re having trouble collecting it? That’s easy enough to avoid—by not handing over the keys until the security deposit has been paid in full. And “paid in full” means the check has cleared your bank, too!
• Tenant is pressing you for return of their security deposit—even though he damaged the kitchen countertops and stained the carpet? Doing a move-out inspection and requiring the tenant to initial it, then going over the lease provisions covering security deposits will help. Communicate up front, then send a full accounting his new address within the time required by your state. Follow the laws and your own procedures to the letter—on each and every tenant.
• Don’t know where the tenant moved? Send all correspondence to his last known address, with “address service requested.” The Post Office will provide the new address if a forwarding order has been placed. If none is found, the letters will be returned to you—so keep them (unopened of course) in your tenant’s folder as proof of your attempt.
• Think eviction proceedings are too much of a hassle? Then by all means, don’t file them. That way your problem tenant won’t feel any pressure to pay you what is owed. She can scoot through without consequence, and her next landlord will have to deal with it—no eviction means no paper trail. But smart landlords know that even starting the eviction process is enough to make many tenants pay up—as they agreed to in their lease.

Yes, tenants will push landlords and property managers to their limits to see if they can get away with. But clear communication and enforcing the rules and provisions of a lease agreement will keep many problem tenants at bay—or out of your rental property!

Even experienced landlords make mistakes. Even landlords who treat their rental property business like a business fail to document every single interaction with a tenant.

But woe to the landlord who finds him or herself in a mess like this one, reported by our friend Gary:

“A friend of mine is a new landlord, who lives upstairs over her tenants. The landlord notices upwards of 20 people a day coming to the apartment every day, so she installs security cameras—just in case. Then the tenant’s brother gets out of jail and moves in downstairs. She did nothing, because she was told he had nowhere to go. Now the landlord is worried about crime, but doesn’t want to give up the extra $100 every month that the convict/brother is paying in rent. I couldn’t believe the number of mistakes she made in allowing this situation to happen.”

Yes, the landlord allowed this situation to occur. How? First of all, the rental agreement or lease should state the number of people allowed to live in the rental unit. When the lease was initiated, the number should have then been limited to the number of adults who applied to live there. When they exceed this number, it is time to start eviction proceedings.

Second, the 20+ visitors per day is an indication that crime activity could be occurring—which might lead one to wonder if proper criminal background checks were conducted on the tenant before he/she moved in. It is possible, but unlikely that a person with a spotless criminal record would suddenly take up drug dealing.

Third, taking in any additional tenant without adding him or her to the lease and screening for credit and criminal history is just asking for trouble. And allowing an ex-con to move in? It’s begging for trouble.

Fourth, accepting rent from the new “tenant” could make possible action against these parties difficult. Accepting rent, with or without a lease, implies a tenancy agreement for the property.

This landlord is afraid in her own home. This situation, of her own making, will be difficult to change to her satisfaction. It’s always easier to prevent this type of problem than to fix it after it’s living downstairs from you!