800-515-0496

Landlord/Tenant Course Navigation

Introduction

Setting Goals

Property Analysis

Rights & Responsibilities

Conclusion & Resources

Dealing with Tenants

In a perfect world, every tenant you deal with will pay rent promptly, avoid damaging the property, conduct themselves as a responsible neighbor and make your job easy and rewarding. Consider tenants to be like bad children, hopefully we love them anyway. Some tenants, despite good job history and the ability to pay, turn out to be problems. Poor behavior can include:

Failure to pay rent
Consistent late payments
Inappropriate or offensive behavior
Damaging the property
Allowing additional tenants without approval
Unsupervised minors
Criminal activity
Changing entry locks without permission
Unsupervised pets

Avoid Bad Tenants

There are ways to minimize the likelihood of renting space to a bad tenant. By having a standard rental policy and screening process, you not only streamline your procedures but may also prevent claims of discrimination. Include the following in your screening activities:

1. Note prospects' appearance – Are the applicants' dressed neatly? Is their appearance clean and kept up? How do children look? Appearance can indicate the level of concern they will have about your property.

2. Ask direct questions that require detailed response – Do your questions require more than a yes or no answer? Will the responses show the character, attitude and perspective of the applicant? If you find inconsistencies or hear "red flag" elements in responses, ask the applicant to elaborate on his response. Look for movement or mannerisms that may indicate a lack of honesty or forthrightness.

3. Examine the application - Is there missing information? Are there gaps in detail? Look for a consistent job history and verifiable references – such as former property managers, employers or professional associates. Any questionable details should be brought up during the interview.

4. Conduct a thorough screening process – What and where is the applicant's current job? What is his financial history like? What do others say about her? Perform a criminal background check, credit report request, job history examination, and interview and verify listed references. Do as much as you can to understand the applicant's character before you agree to rent.

Your job is to manage your property – that includes the people within it. If you scrutinize your prospects well enough, your job will be much easier. Even the best screening process can't exclude every problem tenant, so you have to develop policies.

Make Sure you Learn from your Mistakes

Investigate prospects before renting as thoroughly as possible; try to foresee every possible problem that can occur and include a provision in your lease which protects you; handle every interaction with tenants the same way; remain professional when emotion is used by tenants; and document each interaction clearly.

Plan on having incidents to deal with. Life is not as smooth as we could wish, and neither is being a landlord. Promise yourself to learn from each incident, so that you'll know exactly how to handle it if it happens again.