Protecting Your Self Against Bad Rental Tenants

No one sets out to rent to bad tenants. Even homes and apartment complexes in the worst neighborhoods try to weed out the worst offenders, but time and time again, folks who appeared to be a safe bet during the interview and walk through turned out to be either disruptive, destructive or just deadbeats. So, what can you do to avoid this fate? There is no magic recipe, but if you keep a few things in mind you should be in good shape.

The first thing you need to do is to try to divorce yourself from any kind of emotional connection you have between any renters that may apply to live in your building. It is hard to turn people out on the street that have gone through tough times, but let’s be honest, who hasn’t gone through tough times at some point in their life. You are trying to run a business, and it’s pretty safe to say that you had to sacrifice and work hard for a long time to earn the money that you’re investing with, so although it may be tough, you can’t afford to be a nice guy. Rent to people who can meet your requirements and don’t make any exceptions.

This lack of emotional involvement extends to once your tenants move into your building. Who doesn’t want to be friends with their tenants? Most people think that if they can forge a friendship, it will be less likely that the tenant will mistreat the property. While that may be true, that same friendship can get in the way of enforcing the lease agreement or even going ahead with an eviction. You’re playing with your own money here, you don’t have the time to make exceptions.

Maybe the best thing you can do is to simply trust your gut. If someone just strikes you the wrong way or something about them seems somewhat suspicious, then simply don’t rent to them. It’s far from a scientific way of dealing with things, but there is a reason why cops trust their guts every day, it tends to be the right thing to do. In lieu of that, make sure you check out every applicant’s entire rental history. If they don’t have one, then you might want to think about not renting to them. If it all checks out, then you should be in better shape. Also make sure you call their place of employment and even character/personal references to see if they are honest, hardworking people. There is no way you can be 100 percent sure, but by covering all of your bases, you can rest easy at night knowing you did everything you legally can to protect yourself.

A final tip is to make sure you enough clauses in your rental agreements to protect yourself in case a tenant needs to be evicted or does damage to your property while they live there. If you don’t already have a personal lawyer who will draw up your rental agreements, get one. You don’t want to try to draw one up yourself, you probably won’t be adequately protected.