If you are a landlord, it is very likely that at some point you have rented to a less than desirable tenant. This tenant probably caused problems for you and perhaps did the same to other tenants. How to avoid making the same mistake again in the future? Is there a way to ensure that you find quality tenants and avoid the bad ones? Well, in fact, there are steps you can take to ensure that you have a much better chance of finding the right tenants. These steps can make the rental process much easier for you and can save you the time and money that bad tenants can cost you.
The first step to getting quality tenants is placing an ad that essentially scares away bad tenants. Be sure to inform prospective tenants that you maintain a quiet location and noisy types will not be tolerated. Homeowners can do background and credit checks, so mention that in the ad as well. Some sleazy people won’t even bother to respond to your ad if they know you’re going to run a background check on them. Similarly, a potential tenant who has not been financially responsible will have bad credit and probably won’t even bother to respond to your ad due to the credit check requirement. So as you can see, a well-written ad can weed out a lot of bad tenants before you even start getting calls.
When people call to rent the apartment, you can take this assessment step even further by letting them know that you need at least three months of stable employment that needs to be verified by providing pay stubs for the last three months. You can also request proof of a checking or savings account using account statements for the last three months. Here you can also indicate your minimum credit score requirement (if applicable) to rent your place. Again, these tactics are used to get responsible tenants and will drive away tenants who are not responsible.
You want to make sure potential tenants understand all of your demands before completing the application. This will save everyone time and hassle. Don’t be afraid to come off as stern and use a sensible attitude when dealing with potential tenants. Bad tenants tend to gravitate towards landlords who feel like they can walk everywhere. Don’t give off that kind of vibration. The goal of these lawsuits is to intimidate bad tenants into moving elsewhere.
Using the steps above will help you remove bad tenants before an application is even completed. They have worked for many landlords who were sick and tired of wasting valuable time and money due to bad tenants. By making your demands known early on, and by making sure these demands are of the highest standards, you can ensure that you are renting only to quality tenants. Decent tenants will have no problem with your demands and will not be intimidated at all.
