Would you ever rent to someone with a prior eviction?

General Landlording & Rental Properties
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Would you ever rent to someone with a prior eviction?

Tony Castronovo
Rental Property Investor · Park City, UT · Member since 2016 · 678 posts · 531 votes

Is there such a thing as a "flagrant" eviction?  Is it a completely black and white answer...if they have an eviction....never ever ever rent to them?  Or is there any logic to consider for accepting an applicant with decent credit, good income, and good rental history (with one exception).  Has anyone ever given someone that "second chance"?  Was it a good or bad decision?

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Priscilla Z.
Rental Property Investor · Palm Bay, FL · Member since 2009 · 511 posts · 290 votes
9y

So I'll be the one to give you the YES.  We rent to people with prior evictions, but they have to be more than 3 years ago and the rest of their application has to be spotless, like their income has to check out and their current landlord has to verify that they have not missed a payment or been late in the last year.

Who hasn't had problems in the past or found themselves in a difficult situation?  What if their child was ill and they decided to spend their rent money on their care?  Honestly you don't know the details and never will.  We personally believe everyone deserves a second chance, so we don't base our decisions solely on their credit worthiness or past evictions.  We look at the whole picture.

You can rent to someone that is great on paper and then end up evicting them, you never know. Look at the big picture.

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  • Victor N.
    Investor · Wellington, KS · Member since 2016 · 256 posts · 188 votes
    9y
    no and yes
    1Reply
  • James Conaway
    Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2015 · 82 posts · 49 votes
    9y
    Why take the risk to be a nice guy? You are a business whose goal is making money. If you have an option to rent to someone who has a clear history, accept them first.
    1Reply
  • Matthew Olszak
    Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    @Tony Castronovo Nope. Too many other candidates with less risky "borderline" traits that I'd rather take a chance on. A huge deterrent to reaching the point of an eviction is a tenant's fear: Where will they live with an eviction on their record? What will happen to their stuff? Will they be publicly shamed? Etc...

    For someone who has already been through it and been evicted, they likely are more comfortable and familiar with the process and as such aren't afraid it'll happen because they know they can bounce back and the world won't end. They'll also know how to work the system if they are evicted again and not make a "first-timers" mistakes that benefit a landlord.

    I don't care about the circumstances, I don't care how long ago it was, I don't care what has changed in their life, if I find someone was evicted, its an instant and easy no.

    4Reply
  • Diane G.
    CA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y
    No, no and no
    1Reply
  • Tony Castronovo
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Park City, UT · Member since 2016 · 678 posts · 531 votes
    9y

    Those are great points @Matthew Olszak. I appreciate your input. 

    0Reply
  • Eric Nelson
    Lexington, KY · Member since 2016 · 5 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    Would there be any problem, legal or otherwise, with increasing the rent and or deposit you demand from a potential tenant after finding out they'd been evicted in the past?

    1Reply
  • Kim Meredith HamptonBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · St Petersburg · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    No

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    1Reply
  • Priscilla Z.
    Rental Property Investor · Palm Bay, FL · Member since 2009 · 511 posts · 290 votes
    9y

    So I'll be the one to give you the YES.  We rent to people with prior evictions, but they have to be more than 3 years ago and the rest of their application has to be spotless, like their income has to check out and their current landlord has to verify that they have not missed a payment or been late in the last year.

    Who hasn't had problems in the past or found themselves in a difficult situation?  What if their child was ill and they decided to spend their rent money on their care?  Honestly you don't know the details and never will.  We personally believe everyone deserves a second chance, so we don't base our decisions solely on their credit worthiness or past evictions.  We look at the whole picture.

    You can rent to someone that is great on paper and then end up evicting them, you never know. Look at the big picture.

    7Reply
  • Ujwal Velagapudi
    Investor/Agent/Entrepreneur · Dallas, TX · Member since 2016 · 464 posts · 564 votes
    9y

    Yes, no, yes.

    I agree with @Priscilla Z., there are always certain circumstances that come up and it's our job as owners to dig into it a bit more. I just rented my apartment unit last week to a young lady that had an eviction, from 6 years ago, due to domestic violence issues where she had vacated but her name was legally the one on the lease. 

    More importantly, consider the area that you are in because that is going to differ for everyone. Most of my units are in areas where it's not uncommon to see folks looking to rent that have evictions, misdemeanors, felonies, etc. on their records. If I had the luxury of being in a class A area, maybe it would simply be a black & white decision and I would not think twice due to having a higher quality tenant pool. But for me, it makes sense to take the extra few minutes to dig into the details of that eviction and make a decision on the applicant as a whole. 

    5Reply
  • Justin Fox
    Software Developer · Vidor, TX · Member since 2015 · 922 posts · 639 votes
    9y

    If you don't want to rent to people with evictions then put that in your criteria up front when people inquire about your property.

    I'm not in the business of being a counselor.  Whether or not you are is for you to decide.

    0Reply
  • Adrian Romero
    Flipper · Sylmar, CA · Member since 2016 · 17 posts · 6 votes
    9y

    I rather leave the property vacant, and look for candidates that do not have an eviction on there record. Whats worst losing one months rent or paying a lawyer, losing month(s) of rent, doing repairs to the property to get it rent ready.

    2Reply
  • Thomas S.
    Member since 2016 · 13k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    9y
    Second chances are for gamblers. I would only rent to someone with a eviction if they were the last applicant on earth. If not then what is the reasoning behind even considering them. There are plenty of other fish in the sea why choose one that is obviously defective. This is a business not a charity, let mom and pop rent to high risk applicants.

    Look at selecting tenants like buying appliances. Two fridges both new same price, same everything except one came in with a defective compressor and the store replaced it. Which one are you inclined to buy. Obviously the one that has not already had issues.

    1Reply
  • Priscilla Z.
    Rental Property Investor · Palm Bay, FL · Member since 2009 · 511 posts · 290 votes
    9y
    Thomas S. - in your appliance example, the one that had issues and had the compressor replaced was once new too ;)
    0Reply
  • Tony Castronovo
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Park City, UT · Member since 2016 · 678 posts · 531 votes
    9y

    Thanks for your bold perspectives @Priscilla Z. and @Ujwal Velagapudi.  I actually hesitated to write this post as I figured what the majority of folks would say and also that I would get ripped to shreds for even considering renting to someone with a prior eviction.

    I do run my rental business as a business and like many have always made it a binary decision...eviction = rejection.  But the way this applicant contacted me...with professionalism, respect, maturity, and transparency I thought to dig in more.  Turns out that she had paid her rent on-time for 8 months until her mother took a turn for the worst.  She had breast cancer (it's true as I checked it out on Facebook).  She proactively asked her landlord if she could get a 2-week extension so she could help cover some of the medical bills.  Despite getting an eviction notice after she missed the rent payment she still dropped off her rent check on the 2-week mark.

    I do resonate with @Matthew Olszak's logic and I agree with many of you that there are plenty of other qualified applicants.  This particular situation just made me think twice.  Whenever we screen a possible tenant we do the best we can to use past history to anticipate future behavior.  But for anyone that has ever had to evict a tenant I would gather that their history checked out pretty good.  So you never know I guess.  You can use "data" but sometimes the "gut factor" has to come into play.

    5Reply
  • Thomas S.
    Member since 2016 · 13k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    9y

    Bottom line is facts are all that matter. "Gut factor" should never come into play when screening applicants unless it is a negative feeling. Never consider a positive "gut factor" as they are emotional and highly unreliable. Making business decisions based on facts. Positive gut factor is pure emotion clouding your thinking. Statistics are most important. In this case a tenant that puts personal financial issues ahead of rent payment is a risk not worth taking. By having asked for a extension she placed her landlord in a undesirable position that should never have happened. She asked to use her landlord as a loan company. She was likely denied the extension warranting the eviction. (chances are her excuse is a lie)

    0Reply
  • Linda S.
    Investor · Richmond, VA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    @Tony Castronovo,

     We focus on low income, and evictions are unfortunately kind of standard, and in rougher areas, the perfect tenant might not want to be there.   We state that we strongly prefer no evictions, but will look at it on a case/case basis.     We accept it if the situation has changed,  and the eviction was over 5 years ago.   If they have held a job consistently, and meet everything else, we look at their history.    If the eviction happened last month, absolutely not, job has't changed-- nope!  If our houses were in an upper class area, absolutely not we wouldn't touch them, but again you have to know your market.   Do they move often?   Jump jobs frequently?    You can pretty much figure someone out based on their recent history.  If you're dealing with lower income, you gotta look at it all logically, and make sure it makes sense.      We also structure our leases as much cheaper if paid by the first, so it's a strong incentive to get payment.      We haven't rented to anyone with an eviction yet, but again IMO it depends on the whole story.    I'd also recommend checking credit, if they are late often on bills-- they will likely be late with you.  

    3Reply
  • Mike Nelson
    Investor · Oak Park, IL · Member since 2014 · 316 posts · 150 votes
    9y

    Almost certainly no.  I have found people with evictions often have stories of how it was another person's fault, such a  spouse or roommate, job loss, hurricane, etc.  The bottom line is there is an eviction, and there is uncertainty, and a possibility  you would have to evict them in the furture.

    1Reply
  • Karen S.
    Investor · Sewickley, PA · Member since 2017 · 59 posts · 32 votes
    9y

    My answer is "no". We also will not rent to anyone that has an indication of damaging property in the past. Learned our lesson the hard way. If the eviction was due to misfortune, it's sad and it also means that they are even more vulnerable to future financial misfortune because it's tough to clear the problems they already had and stay ahead of rent. @Thomas S. we did buy that refrigerator you described, at the outlet, and guess what they had to come and take it away. Never will buy another refurb appliance..

    1Reply
  • Peter TverdovBusiness Member
    Developer · New Brunswick, NJ · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    No - you seriously have to try hard to get evicted. Let them live with a friend or relative for X years until it drops off their record, not your problem. 

    [email protected]732-289-3823
    1Reply
  • Michael Noto
    Real Estate Agent · Southington, CT · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    9y

    In the market we are in there is no reason to take a risk on someone with a prior eviction.  When you go through an eviction as a landlord even once it leaves such a bad taste in your mouth I can't even explain it.

    1Reply
  • Rob S.
    Investor · Portland, OR · Member since 2014 · 65 posts · 46 votes
    9y

    @Tony Castronovo It depends on what the law says in your jurisdiction. You may want to check your local landlord/tenant laws. For example, in Oregon you can't deny an applicant based on an eviction from 5 or more years before the application

    0Reply
  • Priscilla Z.
    Rental Property Investor · Palm Bay, FL · Member since 2009 · 511 posts · 290 votes
    9y

    How about evicting someone that gave you a substantial down payment to lease option one of your houses, had clean backgrounds and you still ended up having to evict?  We've gone through this three times already, ended up evicting two people and the third we came to an agreement.

    We run our business as a business as well....three day notices go up the day after the grace period ends...

    But again, life happens and if someone had an eviction more than three years ago and has been paying on time for the last year I'm giving them a chance.

    0Reply
  • Tony Castronovo
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Park City, UT · Member since 2016 · 678 posts · 531 votes
    9y

    Thanks everyone for all your comments.  You have all been very helpful and I appreciate the healthy debate and perspectives.

    0Reply
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