As a landlord, finding the right tenant to rent out your property is the most important step in leasing, and you must spend significant time checking references and income and doing background checks. However, regardless of how much due diligence you do, you may still encounter issues with tenants. Here are five common things that tenants try to get away with.
Paying Rent
The first is not paying rent on time. Tenants will try to take advantage of landlords and give excuses for why they are late paying their rent. Popular excuses range from “I’m waiting for my paycheck from work to come in” to “You haven’t repaired damages in the house, so I shouldn’t have to pay rent until they are fixed.” The best way to keep these excuses from happening is to maintain records of rent collection so your tenants can never claim they paid you when they have not, constantly stay up-to-date on necessary repairs on your property, and keep up with routine assessments of the property to make sure everything is running well.
Extra Occupants
Next, tenants try to get away with a person staying at the property who is not on the lease. Most people rent in areas where they know people or have friends, which is not a concern until your tenant has a friend living with him or her who you have no knowledge of. If someone is living at the property and isn’t on the lease, numerous problems could arise, ranging from damaged property to noise complaints. The best way to avoid this is to include in the lease that no other person may stay in the property except those on the lease and that failure to comply will result in eviction.
Furry Friends
The third thing tenants try to get away with is having pets in a “no pet policy” property. Many tenants will wait weeks or even months after they move in to attempt to sneak a pet into the property without the consent of the landlord and without paying a pet fee, if applicable. Avoid this by doing regular assessments of your property to check and see whether any pets have appeared.
Accidental Damages
The fourth thing is damages. Accidents happen and items break, but who ends up compensating for the damages? If your lease is in order, and you do assessments before and after with the tenant, you won’t have to be the one who pays the price. Make sure to prepare a list and do a walk through the property together on the first day your tenant moves in, noting all preexisting damages. Then, the day before your tenant moves out, walk through the apartment with the same list that has all the preexisting damages so that your tenant can’t argue that they did not do the new damages to your property.
Avoiding Eviction
The fifth and final thing tenants try to get away with is avoiding eviction. Tenants will try to contend that they are being evicted unfairly. Sometimes they will even take legal action. To avoid these conflicts, have a clear and concise lease that declares the rules specifically and states what qualifies as eviction terms. This way, if the tenant tries to take legal action, you have a great chance of winning your case, and if the tenant refuses to move, you can take legal action to remove them from your property and get it back on the rental market.
In Conclusion
Don’t want to deal with the hassle of awful tenants? With Real Property Management TradeWinds, you don’t have to. We can handle everything from damages to complaints and evictions, safeguarding your identity and keeping your mind sane. Don’t stress yourself out over a bad tenant; let us do the work for you. To learn more about the services we offer, contact us online or call us at 727-400-4722 today.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
