It is difficult enough being a landlord and juggling mortgages, skyrocketing insurance rates, middle-of-the-night maintenance issues, and dare we say? Hurricanes?!  Aside from having a great property manager to save you from these pitfalls, there is another achievement a good property manager can help you with; avoiding nuisance tenants. They come in all shapes and sizes.  How many can you recognize in your landlording past?

  • Procrastinating Patty. Between the frequent naps and endless time spent on social media and Netflix,  Procrastinating Patty sometimes remembers to pay the rent on time but usually will pay it when she gets a 3-day notice on the door and then expect you to remove all late fees.  Patty ends up paying rent later and later as the months go by with tons of excuses along the way. She eventually moves out without giving notice leaving you with a disastrous mess she was too lazy to clean and no rent. A better look at her past rental history may have helped you in avoiding this princess.

 

  • Entitled Eric. Eric thinks he is awesome. Entitled Eric demands that the landlord abide by his every wish because, well, let’s face it, he deserves it. Before even becoming a tenant, he attends the showing for the property and immediately informs the landlord that the stove and fridge have been used before, so they will need to be replaced. He treats your apartment more like a hotel with round-the-clock concierge service. Too bad you missed the warning signs for Eric before he moved in.

 

  • Billy Burnout. Billy came along when you let your guard down one month because you had to get a body in the unit. His income was ok at the time but you ignored his background check. He has since lost his job due to a few choice recreational decisions. He spends his time getting high and playing video games and Nerf guns. Luckily, he will pay rent a few more months as his burnout friends all move in with him. Good news is, you won’t have to evict Billy Burnout and his buddies because they will just trash the property and leave in the middle of the night.

 

  • Grungy Gretchen.  Gretchen is so filthy she never even bothers to bring her own garbage cans outside to the curb and they spill over onto the ground. Even her front door is grimy. Gretchen knows she isn’t the cleanest, so she avoids calling the landlord at all costs so her dirtiness will never be found out, even when a water supply line breaks in the ceiling and begins destroying the drywall in the kitchen. She has an oversized dog that she never cleans up after, too. You get plenty of complaints from other tenants about feces in the common areas. Gretchen doesn’t care. Dogs gotta do their business. Eventually, Grungy Gretchen will move out and adamantly insist that she should get her entire security deposit back.

 

  • Councel Katherine. Katherine seems great because she works in a law office. She may be knowledgable but that doesn’t mean she is ethical.  She knows how to work the system and she does it everywhere she moves. Katherine knows how to skip paying rent for six months and avoid prosecution by using obscure technicalities and irritating loopholes. She got into your apartment under the guise that she is in the legal or real estate profession so you let your guard down. She ended up making a game out of your trust and costing you money.

 

  • Nitpicking Ned is the first to let you know about the talking he can hear through the walls of his apartment. He is also extremely nervous about the paint smell he is sure is going to give him breathing problems. Ned is also unhappy that the neighbor across the street has far too many people sitting outside. Nitpicking Ned is not happy about the nail hole in the ceiling that clearly will let bugs through. He spends a lot of time on WebMD, trying to determine the illness his child suddenly has—which was probably caused by the 1/4 inch black spot on the bathroom a/c vent. Instead of cleaning the vent, Ned demands that you replace the entire a/c and duct system because of the toxic air quality. Ned then threatens to withhold the rent because he saw an ant in his pantry.

If you have been a landlord for any amount of time you have surely had at least one of these eccentric tenants.  We at SWF Preferred Realty and Property Management have experienced and recognized these types and more. We know there are so many great tenants out there. We do the necessary screenings to find the good ones and send these lousy ones on their way before they get into your unit. We will wait for the right tenant and thoroughly screen everyone, even if they seem good on paper at the beginning. We do not advocate ever discriminating against a tenant for any of the protected classes, but this doesn’t mean you need to accept the first tenant who shows interest in your property.

By rushing and putting in a tenant who will cause you months or years of headaches, you are only costing yourself more money and stress in the long run. We do our due diligence with every prospective tenant. We work hard to find out what type of tenant they will be before it is too late.

Before you rent to any tenant, take a moment and ask yourself one important question: Is this a tenant I am willing to bet part of my financial future on? If not, move on and find a safer bet.

You can bet us at SWF Preferred Realty and Property Management. Call us today 239-224-8919