Richmond, TX · Member since 2017 · 34 posts · 10 votes
Yesterday I was talking to my realtor and he told me how bad tenants are getting smarter by using existing process. I thought let me share and it might help someone to stay away from bad tenants.
First they find a rental property and then they start paying rent regularly for few months. Suddenly after 2 month they stop paying. 3rd month owner send notice to tenant. 4th month owner go to court to get eviction notice. Almost 5th month court send notice to tenant and tenant raise objection. Again it delay another month and court send another notice after clearing all objections. 7th month constable goes to our property and find tenant is gone already. This is how bad tenant keeps doing it and they also spread their success stories to others.
I don't know if it is true or not but does it really take that long to get rid off bad tenant. Is their any work around to expedite process?
What tools are available to find good tenant? What credit score is required?
@Shal Patel That's totally not right! I have rental properties and manage them too. We evict tenant within a month if process is followed or max 45 days. We give vacate notice on the 4th or 5th if no response and file for eviction after 3 days is completed. It takes 15- 21days for the court date, on the court date they won't show up, you win by default but they will do papuer appeal and court set the hearing for next week and you go and get the writ filed since they are not going to show up. They will be out in 3-5 days after that. At max, 1-2 months not 3-4 months. Who will want to waste their money waiting for tenant to pay for a month only landlords who don't run rental business properly.
Also as @Nicole A. says you better do the screening part correct. If you use smartmove or any good screening service to search for past evictions it should show the court judge and things. This only happens again to landlords who don't know how to run the rentals.
Even if they continued jumping properties every several months, wouldn't this catch up to them? Just because they aren't physically there when you show up with the sheriff doesn't mean they don't get an eviction stamped on their record right? At least not in Maryland. I've had tenants leave, but the constable still signs off on the eviction paperwork. Then it's on the record for future landlords to see.
You just screen the best you can. There is SmartMove right here on BiggerPockets. You look at more than just the credit score. You look at history of paying and not a list of delinquent debts.
@Shal Patel That's totally not right! I have rental properties and manage them too. We evict tenant within a month if process is followed or max 45 days. We give vacate notice on the 4th or 5th if no response and file for eviction after 3 days is completed. It takes 15- 21days for the court date, on the court date they won't show up, you win by default but they will do papuer appeal and court set the hearing for next week and you go and get the writ filed since they are not going to show up. They will be out in 3-5 days after that. At max, 1-2 months not 3-4 months. Who will want to waste their money waiting for tenant to pay for a month only landlords who don't run rental business properly.
Also as @Nicole A. says you better do the screening part correct. If you use smartmove or any good screening service to search for past evictions it should show the court judge and things. This only happens again to landlords who don't know how to run the rentals.
If you evict, follow through!! It's the only way to get it on their record.
Also, get their past rental history, and do a thorough rental background check by calling their previous landlords. But make sure it's a real landlord and not just their buddy, call and ask the person if they have any rentals available and act like a potential renter.
If your potential tenant doesn't have any rental history, then you probably shouldn't rent to them unless you get a much larger deposit ( double or triple) and/or a co-signer that has something to lose if the rent isn't paid.
If your serious about being a real estate professional, then practice it everyday. Be fair, but also be business smart!
We have been experiencing the same situation up here for over 10 years now. It takes 6+ months to get rid of them and usually longer as the novice landlords do not file as soon as they should following the first non payment. These landlords are the ones to target when looking to buy from burned out landlords.
Professional tenants are usually easy to avoid if a landlord does their due diligence. Screening as always is the key. Unfortunately it does require additional effort on the part of landlords and these professional tenants generally target the SFH landlord. These are generally the novice landlords and the easiest to deceive.
It's all about process and documentation. If you follow a process and never divert from it, you will be fine. The trick, as everyone has stated, is making sure you are SCREENING your potentials correctly. I would recommend you get the book Landlording on Autopilot. It's by a guy named Mike Butler. Some of the info is a little dated but the principles are 100% correct. Combine that with today's technology and you will be on the mark and stay out of trouble. Hope that helps!
Hopefully you are not relying on your Realtor for all of your real estate knowledge as this is absolutely not the case with evictions in Texas. The vast majority of evictions in Texas are completed in +-21 days with an additional 10-14 days if a Writ of Possession is needed for a forced move out. Never is an eviction in Texas going to take months
Yesterday I was talking to my realtor and he told me how bad tenants are getting smarter by using existing process. I thought let me share and it might help someone to stay away from bad tenants.
First they find a rental property and then they start paying rent regularly for few months. Suddenly after 2 month they stop paying. 3rd month owner send notice to tenant. 4th month owner go to court to get eviction notice. Almost 5th month court send notice to tenant and tenant raise objection. Again it delay another month and court send another notice after clearing all objections. 7th month constable goes to our property and find tenant is gone already. This is how bad tenant keeps doing it and they also spread their success stories to others.
I don't know if it is true or not but does it really take that long to get rid off bad tenant. Is their any work around to expedite process?
What tools are available to find good tenant? What credit score is required?
Sounds like someone spun a story for you. Where did you read this.. Being such a business friendly state that Texas is, the legislature had to be drunk to pass such a law and get it on the books.
Looks like you got punk'd by this realtor friend of yours or he is a really really bad realtor with little or no experience.
Part of your application process should be to get three years of rental history and calling the landlords. That would help to make you a less likely victim of a professional tenant. I am amazed that landlords don't call other landlords.
In CA if the tenant asks for a trial, you usually are in court within 30-45 days. They give the judge their sob story...the judge tells them to move, and ia sheriff eviction happens about 60 days. Tenants always ask for a court case because they get more free rent. If they didn't ask for a day in court they would be out in about 30 days.
If a tenant files bankrupcy, or worse has friends apply for bankrupcy using your address, you will have months and months of court dates...but this is rare.
Thanks everyone for your update. I am new to Texas and dont have any experience here that's why thought let me get experts opinion here. I am glad I present my thought here and got good advice. Do you suggest any other tool along with SmartMove to screen tenants?
Thanks everyone for your update. I am new to Texas and dont have any experience here that's why thought let me get experts opinion here. I am glad I present my thought here and got good advice. Do you suggest any other tool along with SmartMove to screen tenants?
A good realtor. I actually suggest you get your own license, but short of that - a good realtor.
Thanks everyone for your update. I am new to Texas and dont have any experience here that's why thought let me get experts opinion here. I am glad I present my thought here and got good advice. Do you suggest any other tool along with SmartMove to screen tenants?
You can try Exeprian if you want. MyRental, Tenantverification, Rentberry (new one). There are a bunch of it on the web, so it 's getting harder to choose neither to find :) Have a good luck and thanks for your ideas sharing!
In Florida the whole process is usually 45 days from start to finish. The issue we are having isnt the court filings its getting the officer out to do his part. They are extremely bogged down in broward and palm beach counties. But from what the realtor said it just sounds like they did not file the paperwork fast enough and follow through.
@Shal Patel Please, please, please everybody make sure your collection matters get to an agency that will report to the 3 main bureaus. That helps us all. Always convert your eviction judgment to a money judgment. Get it on the public record for 10 years!
Many counties have their eviction records online. Check every time.
Pay the $45 to a tenant screening service. Think of it as preventative medicine.
I've been in the collection business since 1980. A landlord since 1995. Tenants always look like the property. If you're playing the low end this is just part of doing business.
We use Decision Logic (because I have a lending license) to verify bank account history for bad credit folks. Looking for stability and avoiding bad habits.