3 Bad Tenant Warning Signs

Q: Gerald, we finally got rid of a terrible tenant in our rental property-he didn’t pay for months and he tore the place up. We’re looking for a new tenant now, how can we avoid another disaster?
-Patrick, Orlando, FL

A: Sorry to hear about your trouble, Patrick. As a long-time landlord myself, I can certainly relate. What I’m going to do is give you three warning signs of a potential bad tenant: 1) The prospective tenant is in a hurry to move in right away-this often is because they just got kicked out of their last place. The key is to have rules and regulations and to stick to them. Never allow yourself to be rushed through your own verification process by a rental applicant. 2) The Prospective tenant has no landlord references or a reference that is too good to be true, which may indicate that the previous landlord just wants to get rid of this bad tenant so they become your headache instead of theirs. Again, having rules and regulations that are universally applied is the best defense. 3) The 3rd warning sign of a potential bad tenant is that they have an eviction history. If they’ve been evicted before, there’s obviously a higher chance that they will be evicted again. Thanks for your question, Patrick. Good luck. For more real estate tips and information, visit performanceproperty.com. I’m Gerald Lucas and I’ll see you again soon.