How to Keep a Rental Occupied and Avoid Deadbeat Tenants

Look for Good Tenants

As a landlord, you are more than aware of how difficult it is to evict deadbeat tenants and how much it can cost you in time and money. Hindsight is 20/20, but there are steps you can take that can increase your chances of finding and keeping a good tenant.

Unfortunately, the laws of our land often support and protect tenants who have fallen behind in their rent. This can mean that the landlord is locked into honoring eviction laws and must go through complicated and expensive legal channels to get non-paying tenants off the property. By the time you have them out of your rental property and have repaired and cleaned up the mess, you may have wasted thousands of dollars and days of labor just to get your home or apartment back on the market.

Avoiding these kinds of scenarios means adhering to a strict code of rental principles that may mean a slight delay in getting a place rented, but can save you the horrors of renting to deadbeat tenants.

Experienced landlords who have gone through the "boot camp" of learning what not to do can still get burned in the rental game. That is why the best rental arrangements start at the very beginning of the application process. Once that agreement is signed, there is no going back.

It is so important to learn to identify a potentially good tenant at the very beginning. This can save you nights of lying awake and can help you spot undesirable personality traits that can lead to trouble later on.

Below are some types of information and behavior you may wish to remember in your desire to avoid deadbeat tenants.

Things You'll Need

• Firm resolve

Instructions

1. Word your ad to screen out the first layer of deadbeat tenants. Your ad should always state that there is a "background check." Emphasize to your caller that your background check covers criminal, financial and eviction history. This will often result in the caller confessing to some of these, and they will ask if that will prevent your renting to them. Anything other than unpaid medical bills is a red flag, whether it is their fault or not. Stay noncommittal about renting to them, and re-emphasize you will have to see the background check results. Often these people will look elsewhere. Use a local agency for background checks and charge the tenant for it.

2. Consider renting to those with more than one income stream. If one person loses their job, one still has money coming in. If you can only rent to a single person, see how long they have been at their job. If it is less than a year, this may be a person who changes jobs frequently and apartments also. There are reasons people hop around and they are generally unreliable to settle down for a long period of time in job or where they live. These can be deadbeat tenants looking for a few months of free rent while you struggle to evict them.

3. Call everyone they have listed on their application. Keep in mind, however, that many references may not be honest with you because they do not want the prospective tenant coming back at them for negative information. Keep this in mind as you make your calls, and make notes. Do not disclose the results of these contacts with potential tenants as it can stir up trouble you do not need. This information is confidential as is all information about the tenant.

4. Beware of applicants who seem to talk too much and tell you that this is THE place for them, that you are so nice, that it's just where they want to live, etc. This may be a diversionary tactic, a smokescreen for a troubled life and manipulation of your emotions. Resist flattery and do not believe everything they tell you. Painting a picture of how clean they are, how they can repair everything and how much they can do for you in general is to be avoided. Fast talkers are trying to sell you something, and you need to be careful. Stall and have all the paperwork filled out. Tell these kinds of people you will let them know.

5. Hesitate to rent to people with large dogs if there is some concern on your part. Dogs can demolish window sills, door jams, hardwood floors and carpet. To repair these you can spend thousands of dollars. You will have people with no dogs who are just as interested, so why invite trouble? This goes for several cats and other animals as well. One small dog or cat may be acceptable for you to avoid unnecessary damage.

6. Look at how the applicant is dressed. Just like a job interview, if the tenant meets you looking dirty, disheveled or otherwise unkempt, how do you think he is going to keep the unit? If it is not important to him (or her) to impress you now, how much effort are they going to make to pay the rent when it is due?

7. Personality traits such as irritability or edginess should be identified and rejected. Having to collect overdue rent from someone who is disagreeable is not what you want to be doing and makes your job harder. Sometimes this personality will be more likely to retaliate if evicted and can completely destroy your property. Remember that you do not know these people or what they are capable of. Mood disorders such as this could be an indication of drug abuse or a drinking problem.

8. Look at what kind of car they are driving. If bumpers are hanging off and the exhaust pipe is dragging, you may want to consider that if they cannot afford car repairs, how can they afford your rent?

9. Reject requests to pay deposits or rent over time unless there are circumstances that you understand and feel comfortable with, such as new job status, tax returns or refunded deposits from their last tenancy that you have already verified. Requests for special favors such as this should raise a red flag and it means they are living day to day with no savings or resources from which to borrow their deposit.

10. Pay attention to any discomfort you feel about applicants. Do not dismiss them as being unwarranted. If an applicant makes you uncomfortable in any way, reject that tenant. Do not allow yourself to be desperate and to rent to the first person who wants the place. Allow yourself time to have a choice. Get used to saying things like, "I have other applicants and will let you know by next Tuesday." Allowing yourself time to think about why someone makes you uncomfortable and getting other interested parties will help you choose a better fit for your property.

11. Do not select a tenant because you like them. This can sway your judgment and erase your landlord/social boundaries. You rent apartments for income. It is a job. Your tenants are not friends, potential friends, buddies or your next girlfriend or boyfriend. Keep your boundaries firm and see it solidly as a business deal, because that is what it is. It is your livelihood. No one will care about your livelihood more than you.

12. Be a good landlord. This helps prevent bringing out negative aspects and retaliatory behavior from your tenant. This means providing a heat source, air conditioning if appropriate, fixing broken pipes and faulty wiring. Replace appliances if broken and make sure your tenants are safe by installing appropriate locks on doors and windows. Treat your tenant as you would want to be treated and let them know you care about their welfare. This open communication can help alleviate deliberate attempts to scam or cheat you out of rent because you have been fair with them. At the very least it will hopefully minimize any problems you still have when they move out.

13. Give a deadbeat tenant an incentive to move. It is cheaper to refund an undeserved deposit if the place is left clean and undamaged than it is to keep the deposit and have to hire workers to come in to rebuild the unit. Do not wait until the problem with them has gotten out of hand. If there are early problems with police, they need to move. Offer them the money only if the place is left in good condition. Most tenants will take your offer. You can even sweeten the pot by offering them more than the deposit by a couple of hundred dollars. It is still easier on you, because eviction alone can cost up to a thousand dollars or more, depending on where you live.

14. Skip renting a unit for as long as it takes you to find a good tenant. It is worth the wait.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep good records of everything as you may need it later. Leases, money paid, refunds, deposits, repairs and photos of the condition of the unit is important for your protection.

• Renters looking for a scam opportunity have a lot to choose from in people who do not do their homework in protecting themselves. If they do not rent from you they will rent from them. Remember this is business.

• Do not get into arguments with tenants. They can become deadbeat tenants overnight simply because of the argument. Stay neutral and stay to the facts. Stay businesslike and pleasant, but keep your boundaries. Do what you say you are going to do to avoid opportunities for deadbeat accusations and possible lawsuits.