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Landlords

Dealing With Problem Tenants

Having a rental property and being a landlord can be fantastic. It is a great way to invest and to have additional income as you build equity in your properties. Most of the time, you will have wonderful tenants that are easy to work with and that will cause you no problems. You take care of their issues as they crop up and they pay their rent on time. However, that’s not to say that all of your tenants are going to be sunshine and roses. There are plenty of horror stories out there about problem tenants, and you might have to face them someday.

Some of the tenants might be continually late on their rent, or they might not pay their rent at all. They might be causing damage to the property or not following your rules about no pets. Some could also be causing problems for the neighbors, which is sure to cause headaches for you.

Screening

If you want to reduce your chance of getting bad tenants, you need to have a great screening process. This can help to eliminate many of the problem tenants that might otherwise slip through. Screening should include making sure they have a steady job and are capable of paying the rent, and that they have held the job for a while. Call the company they list and speak with their manager if possible to verify that they actually work there.

You will also want to check for references from their previous landlords. This can be a good way to see exactly what you are getting into with the tenants. Of course, you have to keep in mind that their current landlords might be eager to get rid of them, so they might not be honest about their behavior.

Hire a Management Company

A fantastic way of reducing the number of headaches you have to face is to hire a property management company to take care of things for you. Rather than dealing with the tenants on your own, you have the management company to act as a buffer. They will be in charge of collecting the rent, ensuring policies are followed, and dealing with any of the other problems that could occur with tenants.

Keep in mind that when you work with a property management company, you are going to be paying them for these services. However, if you have had to deal with problem tenants in the past, you will find that it is well worth the cost. It is ideal for those landlords who want to take a hands-off approach to their investments.

Consistency

Landlords need to maintain consistency when it comes to dealing with their tenants. This is especially true in those cases where you have multiple tenants in a complex. Each of these tenants needs to be treated the same way when it comes to the policies that you have enacted and the collection of rent. If you are lenient with one of the tenants because you like them or feel sorry for them, you need to provide all of the tenants with the same leniency. For your business, it is best if you remain fair but firm in your dealings with the tenants. This way, everyone is treated the same, and there is no danger of someone claiming you are showing favoritism or being discriminatory.

Give people a chance, but if they fall back into the same old habits, you have no choice but to take a harder line stance with them. You have to protect your property and your investments.

Eviction Might Be Inevitable

In some cases, you might find that you have exhausted all of the other means of dealing with the tenant and you can’t deal with them any longer. In those cases, you might need to begin the eviction process. You must make sure you are following proper procedure when it comes to this process and the notice of eviction. If you are working with a property management company, they can take care of the process for you and let you know what is happening.

Otherwise, you will want to get in touch with an attorney who can walk you through the process and make sure the paperwork is handled properly. An attorney can be a huge benefit in these cases, so you will certainly want to have someone you can speak with in regard to your problem tenants.

Repairs

Now that you have those problem tenants out of the house, you have to check to see what type of damage has been done to the property. Hopefully, they did not do anything to cause harm to the unit, but that is rarely the case. The extent of the damage can vary greatly, and you will never know just how bad it is until you walk through the door. There could be damage to the structure. There could be bags of trash and waste in the home, damage from pets, and other issues.

You will likely need to use the deposit money to take care of these repairs. If you have spoken with your attorney, they will let you know if it is in your best interest to pursue a court case against the tenant to get money for the damages.

Sell the Property to an Investor

There may be times when the damage is great and you do not want to repair it, or times when you are just tired of dealing with tenants. You might find that selling the property to another investor is your best option. They can take the house of your hands, and you will no longer have to worry about it. If you are going to sell to an investor, it is not much different than selling to anyone else, except you can be sure the investor will have the money available for the purchase. Just make sure the investor is offering you a fair price for the property.

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