Recently It seems I've had to deal with more and more renters who seemed to have no understanding of the lease contract. I don't know if they feel like it is just there for formality sake and the clauses are just a guideline or they aren't even bothering to read it. I've recently had to evict two tenants for violating it. One lady painted her whole apartment a rather obnoxious shade of pink, which I probably wouldn't have know about if she hadn't decide to then put up a bunch of shelves up, rather poorly I might add, that ended up falling down and tearing apart the wall. Then she decided to complain about it and demand that I fix it.

Seriously, the paint, I could have lived with, but destroying the wall and then trying to get me to pay for it, that was too much. Told her she had 30 days to fix it or I would evict. She of course didn't fix it. 

The lease is a legal agreement but either some people don't understand that or they don't care. I mean there has always been people who pull this crap, but it seems like there has been a steady rise in such incidents and not just for me.

The Good, the Bad and the downright Ugly Tenant

There are lots of different tenants out there. Some times it amazes me how often a landlord will end up stuck dealing with a tenant bound and determined to cause trouble who has a record for it. 

With the technology of this age it is much easier to get a hold of records and numbers. The first thing any landlord should do is run a tenant screening on the potential tenant. Make sure to use a legit company, preferably one a member of the BBB like http://www.tenantverification.com/ and http://www.atenantscreen.com/. Don't just run a credit check, get a national criminal record check done, get their eviction record searched. 

Then comes the fun part. Its time to do some research. Check arrest records, you will be amazed by some of the things you can learn. If someone has been arrested multiple times it is probably best to not rent to them, even if they were never convicted. Either they keep getting luck or they hang out with people you don't want visiting your apartment.

Check the news. You won't believe how many tenants have taken multiple landlords to court and then go find a new landlord to rip off. 

Call jobs. I once had a potential tenant make up a fake pay stub. I called the place they were suppose to be working and found out that said person had been fired 6 months ago for stealing. 

Talk to past landlords. Sometimes problem tenants don't have records. Its not against the law to be a pain and your not likely to find records on how often they called their landlord to complain over stupid things. 

For more tips http://www.tenantsinfo.com/ is a good source of landlord tenant information.

Economy Affects Landlords

Landlords Affected in Tough Economic Times

Tough economic times affect every consumer that includes tenants and it has become quite evident recently with the global financial meltdown that many consumers/tenants have overspent and incurred more debt than they are able to handle financially.

So when consumers default on their financial obligation who suffers? Credit card companies, financial institutions and landlords? Yes landlords. More and more consumers, who are tenants, will leave landlords stuck with unpaid rental fees and damaged rental property where they are unable to meet the terms of their lease agreement because of heavy debt load and unemployment, many tenants become angry and frustrated and trash the rental unit. Where this scenario arises the tenant(s) may just decide that it is easier to hire a midnight mover and forego the lease agreement and the last few months rent as there is little or no consequence for doing so.

No this is nothing new as it has been happening for years, it is evident however that rental defaults are rising and are becoming more common occurrence in these new tough economic times.  Tenants use landlords as a revolving line of credit because it is easy to do, there is no consequence, and many tenants in today’s unstable financial environment feel that they have no other choice. The major credit reporting agencies do not report tenant pay habits and a court award or an arbitration award means nothing in most instances as it is a worthless piece of paper that is more often than not, unenforceable.

Landlords reporting tenant pay habits to a credit reporting agency is a viable solution to maintaining a profitable rental business and reducing income loss.  The risk of extending a lease to a high risk tenant that has stiffed another landlord is very real and landlords need to take additional measures to protect their business.

Advising the prospective tenant prior to signing a lease that monthly pay habits are reported to a credit reporting agency and that there is a consequence for late rent payment and/or leaving a landlord stuck with unpaid rent is a significant deterrent.

One of the premier tenant screening services in North America, TVS Tenant Verification Service Inc. provides the residential rental industry with a repository for reporting pay habits that stops high risk tenants from using landlords as a revolving line of credit and benefits good tenants that make rent payments in a timely manner.

Landlords and good tenants’ benefit, high risk tenants that use landlords as a revolving line of credit will soon come to the realization that there is no such thing as free rent.

Article from http://www.atenantscreen.com/

Marv Steier, President
TVS Tenant Verification Service Inc.
www.tenantverification.com