Next landlord is calling me.

[Curt Bixel]

I have a tenant who I had to ask to leave after months of failure to pay rent.  I made the mistake of being nice.  I have learned my lesson and don't really need any help on that aspect going forward.

What I do need help with is what to say to the next landlord who is calling me, as this tenant has now put me as a reference.  

What I would like to say is that, no, I would not rent to them again.  When they finally did leave, they were 4 months behind in rent, and when I did go into the property, it was in terrible shape.  The amount of work I had to do to get the property ready for the next tenant was extreme, took two more months of time to get done, and resulted in 2 more months of missed rent.  So, not only would I not rent to them again, I am actually quite sorry that I ever rented to them as instead of having the property be profitable over the given time period, it was quite negative.  

The advice I need is as to what I can and cannot say to the next landlord without getting myself in trouble.  

[Greg M.]

Originally posted by @Curt Bixel:

What I would like to say is that, no, I would not rent to them again.  When they finally did leave, they were 4 months behind in rent, and when I did go into the property, it was in terrible shape.  The amount of work I had to do to get the property ready for the next tenant was extreme, took two more months of time to get done, and resulted in 2 more months of missed rent.  So, not only would I not rent to them again, I am actually quite sorry that I ever rented to them as instead of having the property be profitable over the given time period, it was quite negative.  

You can sum up all of that with: I would not rent to them again. This one little sentence says everything that you wanted to say and more. Only a foolish landlord would hear that sentence and still rent to the prospect.