What's Your WORST Tenant Experience? How Did You Deal With Them?
Member since 2022 · 31 posts · 34 votes
What's Your WORST Tenant Experience? How Did You Deal With Them?
Most Popular Reply
Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
4yQuote from @Greg R.:
Quote from @JD Martin:
Quote from @Greg R.:
I've had a couple STR guests smoking meth/ fentanyl in my properties, which is pretty crazy because these are high end luxury units. Doesn't happen often but it's happened twice. I know because one tore down smoke detectors and they both left foil, straws, and other used supplies behind.
Regarding LRT, I usually don't interact much w/ the tenants or do the screening, my wife does. Can't remember what happened but for whatever reason I was at this property and showed it to a couple of young single guys. They were active duty in the US Marine Corps., and I am a Marine Corps. vet, so we hit it off. I bypassed the normal screening that we usually do, because, they're Marines and they'll be great tenants - right?
On the first day they moved in there was something minor that needed repair, so I go over there to take care of it and I'm greeted by a 80-90 pound german shepherd who was not at all welcoming. I was puzzled because the lease stated no pets allowed and they confirmed that they didn't have any pets or animals.
A moment later I saw one of the guys and asked him what's going on w/ the dog. He said that they decided not to tell me about it because they thought I would discriminate against them, so they went and got an ESA cert online (not worth the paper it's printed on), and said that now I can't do s*it about it. Those were literally his words, and this happened on the first day of the lease when they were moving in.
From there all kinds of drama, complaining that a fence was a few inches too close to parking space and was code violation, threatened to call fire dept, etc., etc. Literally complaining about every single thing on a regular basis. I was finally able to get rid of them, but they were a complete and major pain in the butt.
😂 I'm a USN Gulf War I vet, and I'm a military supporter, but I'd say easily half of the guys I served with were complete jackasses so no way would you get a pass from me just because you were in the military. Lesson learned, right?
I used to tell people: as soon as someone tells me they're a cop or a preacher in a conversation that didn't call for that information, I check for my wallet. Maybe I'd add squid, grunt, jarhead and zoomie to that list 😀
No doubt - right up my alley. Not too many people on BP have a podcast talking about losing $100k. Virtually every lesson I ever learned in life cost me a lot of money. I've got two PhDs - one from a regular university and one from Hard Knocks university
🤣
Skyline Properties
28 Replies
- New to Real Estate · Worcester, MA · Member since 2021 · 63 posts · 48 votes4y
I'm curious as to your tenant screening criteria. Are you using a service such as rentredi or avail?
- Member since 2022 · 31 posts · 34 votes4y
Quote from @Matthew Bowling:
I'm curious as to your tenant screening criteria. Are you using a service such as rentredi or avail?
I send out my own pre-screen questionnaire with all the questions I need answered. How many pets, how many people, do you smoke, rough gross income, etc. It's very thorough. I will be utilizing Turbotenant for application, background check/credit check, document signing and rental payments.
This is a process I did not utilize with my previous tenants as they were my friends and everything was a handshake agreement.
- New to Real Estate · Worcester, MA · Member since 2021 · 63 posts · 48 votes4y
Quote from @Winter Heintz:
Happy Friday! As I go through screening potential renters for my unit, I'm intrigued by all the horror stories I hear. My previous tenants were great, always paid on time and took care of the property. They were less than ideal at cleaning and always wanted more animals but nothing I couldn't handle.
One of my co-workers, let's call him John, told me a story about how he had a terrible tenant who never paid rent and did drugs in his property. Of course, the guy didn't want to leave. So, John was a realtor and he found a creative way to ANNOY the tenant so much that he eventually moved. He took a "For Sale" sign and put it out front of his rental. John told his tenant it just wasn't working out so he had to sell it. John asked a few of his realtor buddies to act as interested buyers. He would have them filter through so often that the tenant eventually packed up and left.
I want to hear YOUR tenant horror stories and what creative ways have you dealt with them?I just wanted to point out that while creative... if the tenant had evidence of the landlord's intentions I believe that it walks the line towards a Fair Housing violation.
I've had a couple STR guests smoking meth/ fentanyl in my properties, which is pretty crazy because these are high end luxury units. Doesn't happen often but it's happened twice. I know because one tore down smoke detectors and they both left foil, straws, and other used supplies behind.
Regarding LRT, I usually don't interact much w/ the tenants or do the screening, my wife does. Can't remember what happened but for whatever reason I was at this property and showed it to a couple of young single guys. They were active duty in the US Marine Corps., and I am a Marine Corps. vet, so we hit it off. I bypassed the normal screening that we usually do, because, they're Marines and they'll be great tenants - right?
On the first day they moved in there was something minor that needed repair, so I go over there to take care of it and I'm greeted by a 80-90 pound german shepherd who was not at all welcoming. I was puzzled because the lease stated no pets allowed and they confirmed that they didn't have any pets or animals.
A moment later I saw one of the guys and asked him what's going on w/ the dog. He said that they decided not to tell me about it because they thought I would discriminate against them, so they went and got an ESA cert online (not worth the paper it's printed on), and said that now I can't do s*it about it. Those were literally his words, and this happened on the first day of the lease when they were moving in.
From there all kinds of drama, complaining that a fence was a few inches too close to parking space and was code violation, threatened to call fire dept, etc., etc. Literally complaining about every single thing on a regular basis. I was finally able to get rid of them, but they were a complete and major pain in the butt.
- Member since 2022 · 31 posts · 34 votes4y
Quote from @Greg R.:
I've had a couple STR guests smoking meth/ fentanyl in my properties, which is pretty crazy because these are high end luxury units. Doesn't happen often but it's happened twice. I know because one tore down smoke detectors and they both left foil, straws, and other used supplies behind.
Regarding LRT, I usually don't interact much w/ the tenants or do the screening, my wife does. Can't remember what happened but for whatever reason I was at this property and showed it to a couple of young single guys. They were active duty in the US Marine Corps., and I am a Marine Corps. vet, so we hit it off. I bypassed the normal screening that we usually do, because, they're Marines and they'll be great tenants - right?
On the first day they moved in there was something minor that needed repair, so I go over there to take care of it and I'm greeted by a 80-90 pound german shepherd who was not at all welcoming. I was puzzled because the lease stated no pets allowed and they confirmed that they didn't have any pets or animals.
A moment later I saw one of the guys and asked him what's going on w/ the dog. He said that they decided not to tell me about it because they thought I would discriminate against them, so they went and got an ESA cert online (not worth the paper it's printed on), and said that now I can't do s*it about it. Those were literally his words, and this happened on the first day of the lease when they were moving in.
From there all kinds of drama, complaining that a fence was a few inches too close to parking space and was code violation, threatened to call fire dept, etc., etc. Literally complaining about every single thing on a regular basis. I was finally able to get rid of them, but they were a complete and major pain in the butt.
Wow! My husband is a marine corps vet and I would never rent to him. He would never pay bills on time if I didn't tell him what's due and when! (I know this because he never paid bills before we met , nearly got evicted when we did meet and got his truck repossessed a few months after we started dating). Military might teach tactics but they don't teach finances ! (I am also in the National Guard).
They sound like a pain!
I've had one person apply and say they have an emotional support animal. What do I need to verify that information? A letter from a therapist?
How did you get rid them out?
- Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes4y
Quote from @Greg R.:
I've had a couple STR guests smoking meth/ fentanyl in my properties, which is pretty crazy because these are high end luxury units. Doesn't happen often but it's happened twice. I know because one tore down smoke detectors and they both left foil, straws, and other used supplies behind.
Regarding LRT, I usually don't interact much w/ the tenants or do the screening, my wife does. Can't remember what happened but for whatever reason I was at this property and showed it to a couple of young single guys. They were active duty in the US Marine Corps., and I am a Marine Corps. vet, so we hit it off. I bypassed the normal screening that we usually do, because, they're Marines and they'll be great tenants - right?
On the first day they moved in there was something minor that needed repair, so I go over there to take care of it and I'm greeted by a 80-90 pound german shepherd who was not at all welcoming. I was puzzled because the lease stated no pets allowed and they confirmed that they didn't have any pets or animals.
A moment later I saw one of the guys and asked him what's going on w/ the dog. He said that they decided not to tell me about it because they thought I would discriminate against them, so they went and got an ESA cert online (not worth the paper it's printed on), and said that now I can't do s*it about it. Those were literally his words, and this happened on the first day of the lease when they were moving in.
From there all kinds of drama, complaining that a fence was a few inches too close to parking space and was code violation, threatened to call fire dept, etc., etc. Literally complaining about every single thing on a regular basis. I was finally able to get rid of them, but they were a complete and major pain in the butt.
😂 I'm a USN Gulf War I vet, and I'm a military supporter, but I'd say easily half of the guys I served with were complete jackasses so no way would you get a pass from me just because you were in the military. Lesson learned, right?
I used to tell people: as soon as someone tells me they're a cop or a preacher in a conversation that didn't call for that information, I check for my wallet. Maybe I'd add squid, grunt, jarhead and zoomie to that list 😀
Skyline Properties - Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes4y
Quote from @Winter Heintz:
Wow! My husband is a marine corps vet and I would never rent to him. He would never pay bills on time if I didn't tell him what's due and when! (I know this because he never paid bills before we met , nearly got evicted when we did meet and got his truck repossessed a few months after we started dating). Military might teach tactics but they don't teach finances ! (I am also in the National Guard).
🤣🤣🤣 You win the BP forums today!Skyline Properties - Yeah, lessons learned. This was about a 10 year younger version of myself who clearly misplayed that situation. The school of hard knocks is not one you want to visit often, but it does provide very valuable lessons. No shame in being transparent about something knuckleheaded I did in the past.
Quote from @JD Martin:
Quote from @Greg R.:
I've had a couple STR guests smoking meth/ fentanyl in my properties, which is pretty crazy because these are high end luxury units. Doesn't happen often but it's happened twice. I know because one tore down smoke detectors and they both left foil, straws, and other used supplies behind.
Regarding LRT, I usually don't interact much w/ the tenants or do the screening, my wife does. Can't remember what happened but for whatever reason I was at this property and showed it to a couple of young single guys. They were active duty in the US Marine Corps., and I am a Marine Corps. vet, so we hit it off. I bypassed the normal screening that we usually do, because, they're Marines and they'll be great tenants - right?
On the first day they moved in there was something minor that needed repair, so I go over there to take care of it and I'm greeted by a 80-90 pound german shepherd who was not at all welcoming. I was puzzled because the lease stated no pets allowed and they confirmed that they didn't have any pets or animals.
A moment later I saw one of the guys and asked him what's going on w/ the dog. He said that they decided not to tell me about it because they thought I would discriminate against them, so they went and got an ESA cert online (not worth the paper it's printed on), and said that now I can't do s*it about it. Those were literally his words, and this happened on the first day of the lease when they were moving in.
From there all kinds of drama, complaining that a fence was a few inches too close to parking space and was code violation, threatened to call fire dept, etc., etc. Literally complaining about every single thing on a regular basis. I was finally able to get rid of them, but they were a complete and major pain in the butt.
😂 I'm a USN Gulf War I vet, and I'm a military supporter, but I'd say easily half of the guys I served with were complete jackasses so no way would you get a pass from me just because you were in the military. Lesson learned, right?
I used to tell people: as soon as someone tells me they're a cop or a preacher in a conversation that didn't call for that information, I check for my wallet. Maybe I'd add squid, grunt, jarhead and zoomie to that list 😀
- Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes4y
Quote from @Greg R.:
Yeah, lessons learned. This was about a 10 year younger version of myself who clearly misplayed that situation. The school of hard knocks is not one you want to visit often, but it does provide very valuable lessons. No shame in being transparent about something knuckleheaded I did in the past.Quote from @JD Martin:
Quote from @Greg R.:
I've had a couple STR guests smoking meth/ fentanyl in my properties, which is pretty crazy because these are high end luxury units. Doesn't happen often but it's happened twice. I know because one tore down smoke detectors and they both left foil, straws, and other used supplies behind.
Regarding LRT, I usually don't interact much w/ the tenants or do the screening, my wife does. Can't remember what happened but for whatever reason I was at this property and showed it to a couple of young single guys. They were active duty in the US Marine Corps., and I am a Marine Corps. vet, so we hit it off. I bypassed the normal screening that we usually do, because, they're Marines and they'll be great tenants - right?
On the first day they moved in there was something minor that needed repair, so I go over there to take care of it and I'm greeted by a 80-90 pound german shepherd who was not at all welcoming. I was puzzled because the lease stated no pets allowed and they confirmed that they didn't have any pets or animals.
A moment later I saw one of the guys and asked him what's going on w/ the dog. He said that they decided not to tell me about it because they thought I would discriminate against them, so they went and got an ESA cert online (not worth the paper it's printed on), and said that now I can't do s*it about it. Those were literally his words, and this happened on the first day of the lease when they were moving in.
From there all kinds of drama, complaining that a fence was a few inches too close to parking space and was code violation, threatened to call fire dept, etc., etc. Literally complaining about every single thing on a regular basis. I was finally able to get rid of them, but they were a complete and major pain in the butt.
😂 I'm a USN Gulf War I vet, and I'm a military supporter, but I'd say easily half of the guys I served with were complete jackasses so no way would you get a pass from me just because you were in the military. Lesson learned, right?
I used to tell people: as soon as someone tells me they're a cop or a preacher in a conversation that didn't call for that information, I check for my wallet. Maybe I'd add squid, grunt, jarhead and zoomie to that list 😀
No doubt - right up my alley. Not too many people on BP have a podcast talking about losing $100k. Virtually every lesson I ever learned in life cost me a lot of money. I've got two PhDs - one from a regular university and one from Hard Knocks university
🤣Skyline Properties - In my experience most Marines are incredibly reliable and good people, I love renting to them. I'd say about 8-9 out of 10 are great people. However, those of us who served know that there are always a few dirt bags who slip through and make it into the fleet. Proper screening should weed them out.
Quote from @Winter Heintz:
Quote from @Greg R.:
I've had a couple STR guests smoking meth/ fentanyl in my properties, which is pretty crazy because these are high end luxury units. Doesn't happen often but it's happened twice. I know because one tore down smoke detectors and they both left foil, straws, and other used supplies behind.
Regarding LRT, I usually don't interact much w/ the tenants or do the screening, my wife does. Can't remember what happened but for whatever reason I was at this property and showed it to a couple of young single guys. They were active duty in the US Marine Corps., and I am a Marine Corps. vet, so we hit it off. I bypassed the normal screening that we usually do, because, they're Marines and they'll be great tenants - right?
On the first day they moved in there was something minor that needed repair, so I go over there to take care of it and I'm greeted by a 80-90 pound german shepherd who was not at all welcoming. I was puzzled because the lease stated no pets allowed and they confirmed that they didn't have any pets or animals.
A moment later I saw one of the guys and asked him what's going on w/ the dog. He said that they decided not to tell me about it because they thought I would discriminate against them, so they went and got an ESA cert online (not worth the paper it's printed on), and said that now I can't do s*it about it. Those were literally his words, and this happened on the first day of the lease when they were moving in.
From there all kinds of drama, complaining that a fence was a few inches too close to parking space and was code violation, threatened to call fire dept, etc., etc. Literally complaining about every single thing on a regular basis. I was finally able to get rid of them, but they were a complete and major pain in the butt.
Wow! My husband is a marine corps vet and I would never rent to him. He would never pay bills on time if I didn't tell him what's due and when! (I know this because he never paid bills before we met , nearly got evicted when we did meet and got his truck repossessed a few months after we started dating). Military might teach tactics but they don't teach finances ! (I am also in the National Guard).
They sound like a pain!
I've had one person apply and say they have an emotional support animal. What do I need to verify that information? A letter from a therapist?
How did you get rid them out?
At a different property about 5 years ago we had another group of Marines (San Diego), one of the guys was a drill instructor at MCRD, a complete badass dude. The other two were in a logistics MOS. Lived in the property for over 3 years, always paid early, left the property spotless, and were a delight to rent to.
Back to the d-bags in my original post, they keep complaining about everything and I finally called them on it. I said, "hey, you guys don't like us, we don't like you. You are obviously not happy here and think that the property is a POS. Since that's the case, let's break the lease - no penalties. Just get out and I'll give you your full security deposit back, no questions asked." You could tell they didn't really want to do it but they had too much pride and accepted the offer. They were gone about 3 weeks later and never heard form again.
- Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2021 · 9k+ posts · 5k+ votes4y
I send one of my contractors to do a work order on my tenants fence, they start calling me and telling me my contractor was smoking crack on the house. They sent me a picture and they were drinking water. Made a whole scene
- Rental Property Investor · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes4y
Quote from @Winter Heintz:
Happy Friday! As I go through screening potential renters for my unit, I'm intrigued by all the horror stories I hear. My previous tenants were great, always paid on time and took care of the property. They were less than ideal at cleaning and always wanted more animals but nothing I couldn't handle.
One of my co-workers, let's call him John, told me a story about how he had a terrible tenant who never paid rent and did drugs in his property. Of course, the guy didn't want to leave. So, John was a realtor and he found a creative way to ANNOY the tenant so much that he eventually moved. He took a "For Sale" sign and put it out front of his rental. John told his tenant it just wasn't working out so he had to sell it. John asked a few of his realtor buddies to act as interested buyers. He would have them filter through so often that the tenant eventually packed up and left.
I want to hear YOUR tenant horror stories and what creative ways have you dealt with them?The worst I ever had was when I bought a property. I did my due diligence, walked the property, and got an inspection. Everything seemed great and fixable. I was buying the property from an older couple who let their son live in one of their properties. Upon buying the property and then walking it again. The grandson and his buddies were living in one of the vacant units doing drugs, trashing the place, and using the house as if it had running water/lavatories...Needless to say, my wife and I had to dispose of that toilet ourselves, the grossest thing I have ever done. But the worst part was getting the son out. Once he finally left, after a few break-ins, he made sure to leave the house with a nice little welcome to real estate presents. Bed bug infested (I mean in every vent/trim piece) and he smoked meth so it was all in the walls. I sure did learn a lot and to this day whenever I travel or go see a place I look for bed bugs.
- Investor · Member since 2022 · 234 posts · 144 votes4y
Quote from @Greg R.:
I've had a couple STR guests smoking meth/ fentanyl in my properties, which is pretty crazy because these are high end luxury units. Doesn't happen often but it's happened twice. I know because one tore down smoke detectors and they both left foil, straws, and other used supplies behind.
Regarding LRT, I usually don't interact much w/ the tenants or do the screening, my wife does. Can't remember what happened but for whatever reason I was at this property and showed it to a couple of young single guys. They were active duty in the US Marine Corps., and I am a Marine Corps. vet, so we hit it off. I bypassed the normal screening that we usually do, because, they're Marines and they'll be great tenants - right?
On the first day they moved in there was something minor that needed repair, so I go over there to take care of it and I'm greeted by a 80-90 pound german shepherd who was not at all welcoming. I was puzzled because the lease stated no pets allowed and they confirmed that they didn't have any pets or animals.
A moment later I saw one of the guys and asked him what's going on w/ the dog. He said that they decided not to tell me about it because they thought I would discriminate against them, so they went and got an ESA cert online (not worth the paper it's printed on), and said that now I can't do s*it about it. Those were literally his words, and this happened on the first day of the lease when they were moving in.
From there all kinds of drama, complaining that a fence was a few inches too close to parking space and was code violation, threatened to call fire dept, etc., etc. Literally complaining about every single thing on a regular basis. I was finally able to get rid of them, but they were a complete and major pain in the butt.
Wow, that's wild!
- Investor · Member since 2022 · 234 posts · 144 votes4y
Quote from @Steven Foster Wilson:
Quote from @Winter Heintz:
Happy Friday! As I go through screening potential renters for my unit, I'm intrigued by all the horror stories I hear. My previous tenants were great, always paid on time and took care of the property. They were less than ideal at cleaning and always wanted more animals but nothing I couldn't handle.
One of my co-workers, let's call him John, told me a story about how he had a terrible tenant who never paid rent and did drugs in his property. Of course, the guy didn't want to leave. So, John was a realtor and he found a creative way to ANNOY the tenant so much that he eventually moved. He took a "For Sale" sign and put it out front of his rental. John told his tenant it just wasn't working out so he had to sell it. John asked a few of his realtor buddies to act as interested buyers. He would have them filter through so often that the tenant eventually packed up and left.
I want to hear YOUR tenant horror stories and what creative ways have you dealt with them?The worst I ever had was when I bought a property. I did my due diligence, walked the property, and got an inspection. Everything seemed great and fixable. I was buying the property from an older couple who let their son live in one of their properties. Upon buying the property and then walking it again. The grandson and his buddies were living in one of the vacant units doing drugs, trashing the place, and using the house as if it had running water/lavatories...Needless to say, my wife and I had to dispose of that toilet ourselves, the grossest thing I have ever done. But the worst part was getting the son out. Once he finally left, after a few break-ins, he made sure to leave the house with a nice little welcome to real estate presents. Bed bug infested (I mean in every vent/trim piece) and he smoked meth so it was all in the walls. I sure did learn a lot and to this day whenever I travel or go see a place I look for bed bugs.
That's insane. I don't get people sometimes. There are a couple of things that I truly hate and bed bugs are THE WORST.
- Rental Property Investor · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes4y
Quote from @Mose Gebremeskel:
Quote from @Steven Foster Wilson:
Quote from @Winter Heintz:
Happy Friday! As I go through screening potential renters for my unit, I'm intrigued by all the horror stories I hear. My previous tenants were great, always paid on time and took care of the property. They were less than ideal at cleaning and always wanted more animals but nothing I couldn't handle.
One of my co-workers, let's call him John, told me a story about how he had a terrible tenant who never paid rent and did drugs in his property. Of course, the guy didn't want to leave. So, John was a realtor and he found a creative way to ANNOY the tenant so much that he eventually moved. He took a "For Sale" sign and put it out front of his rental. John told his tenant it just wasn't working out so he had to sell it. John asked a few of his realtor buddies to act as interested buyers. He would have them filter through so often that the tenant eventually packed up and left.
I want to hear YOUR tenant horror stories and what creative ways have you dealt with them?The worst I ever had was when I bought a property. I did my due diligence, walked the property, and got an inspection. Everything seemed great and fixable. I was buying the property from an older couple who let their son live in one of their properties. Upon buying the property and then walking it again. The grandson and his buddies were living in one of the vacant units doing drugs, trashing the place, and using the house as if it had running water/lavatories...Needless to say, my wife and I had to dispose of that toilet ourselves, the grossest thing I have ever done. But the worst part was getting the son out. Once he finally left, after a few break-ins, he made sure to leave the house with a nice little welcome to real estate presents. Bed bug infested (I mean in every vent/trim piece) and he smoked meth so it was all in the walls. I sure did learn a lot and to this day whenever I travel or go see a place I look for bed bugs.
That's insane. I don't get people sometimes. There are a couple of things that I truly hate and bed bugs are THE WORST.
I know! I do not get people either. On one of our other properties, there was pee all along the walls and it was waist-high on down. I was like, REALLY? You could not walk 10 feet to the bathroom? But truly, I would take that any day over bed bugs. I still get cold chills just thinking about them.
- Rental Property Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2020 · 161 posts · 88 votes4y
@Winter Heintz, my worst tenant experience was years ago, before I got wise and engaged the services of a fantastic property manager. Each bad experience drove me to get wise and hire a pro. It actually nets me more money after fees than doing it all, myself.
My worst tenant experiences were last year when we had two tenants die in the same unit, consecutively. We didn't realize the first one was dead until the tenants in the unit next door complained about the smell, so it wasn't a pretty turnover. We got it cleaned up (which was a lot of work) and rented out again as quickly as possible, using the same VA program that had placed the first tenant. We thought that occurrence was a rare terrible tragedy and that the odds were low that it would happen again. The new tenant also died inside the unit just a few weeks later. As much as I love the idea of helping out veterans while also placing pre-screened tenants easily, and having the VA guarantee their rent, after two consecutive deaths (one OD'd on something, the other apparently drank himself to death), we had to pull the plug on using that program. I have a lot of other tenant horror stories, but these two are the worst.
- Rental Property Investor · Prince George's County, MD · Member since 2022 · 177 posts · 187 votes4yHa! That last part. That was my first and worst experience as a landlord, renting to a friend. Luckily she left when I asked her to and we didn't end up in court. In hindsight I am grateful for the experience, as it made me tighten-up my business practices as a landlord.
Quote from @Winter Heintz:
Quote from @Matthew Bowling:
I'm curious as to your tenant screening criteria. Are you using a service such as rentredi or avail?
I send out my own pre-screen questionnaire with all the questions I need answered. How many pets, how many people, do you smoke, rough gross income, etc. It's very thorough. I will be utilizing Turbotenant for application, background check/credit check, document signing and rental payments.
This is a process I did not utilize with my previous tenants as they were my friends and everything was a handshake agreement.
- Rental Property Investor · Prince George's County, MD · Member since 2022 · 177 posts · 187 votes4yI've read service animals should be registered, not sure if emotional support animals fall within this category. If a registration is required in order to be considered a service or emotional support animal, I would ask for that documentation.
Quote from @Winter Heintz:
Quote from @Greg R.:
I've had a couple STR guests smoking meth/ fentanyl in my properties, which is pretty crazy because these are high end luxury units. Doesn't happen often but it's happened twice. I know because one tore down smoke detectors and they both left foil, straws, and other used supplies behind.
Regarding LRT, I usually don't interact much w/ the tenants or do the screening, my wife does. Can't remember what happened but for whatever reason I was at this property and showed it to a couple of young single guys. They were active duty in the US Marine Corps., and I am a Marine Corps. vet, so we hit it off. I bypassed the normal screening that we usually do, because, they're Marines and they'll be great tenants - right?
On the first day they moved in there was something minor that needed repair, so I go over there to take care of it and I'm greeted by a 80-90 pound german shepherd who was not at all welcoming. I was puzzled because the lease stated no pets allowed and they confirmed that they didn't have any pets or animals.
A moment later I saw one of the guys and asked him what's going on w/ the dog. He said that they decided not to tell me about it because they thought I would discriminate against them, so they went and got an ESA cert online (not worth the paper it's printed on), and said that now I can't do s*it about it. Those were literally his words, and this happened on the first day of the lease when they were moving in.
From there all kinds of drama, complaining that a fence was a few inches too close to parking space and was code violation, threatened to call fire dept, etc., etc. Literally complaining about every single thing on a regular basis. I was finally able to get rid of them, but they were a complete and major pain in the butt.
Wow! My husband is a marine corps vet and I would never rent to him. He would never pay bills on time if I didn't tell him what's due and when! (I know this because he never paid bills before we met , nearly got evicted when we did meet and got his truck repossessed a few months after we started dating). Military might teach tactics but they don't teach finances ! (I am also in the National Guard).
They sound like a pain!
I've had one person apply and say they have an emotional support animal. What do I need to verify that information? A letter from a therapist?
How did you get rid them out?
Also, the Fair Housing laws diff slightly for house hackers (owners who live in the property they rent). Therefore if you'd rather not have pets, you can legally (although still discriminatory) not have to rent to them. Both these worse case happened to our STR units which we do not self manage:
Scenario 1: tenant created a mud pit out of the small yard for girls to wrestle in. PM collected for damages and lost rent. We placed a deck over 50% of the yard and artificial turf over the other half of the yard.
Scenario 2 may not primarily be an issue with our tenant (depends on your perspective): Our STR tenant was one guy and 2 females. One of the neighbors (who was an LTR tenant) was being obnoxious toward one or both females. Our male tenant attempted to be chivalrous and supposedly started the physical confrontation. our tenant ended up getting KOed. Our PM contacted the neighbor PM and neighbor tenant got a warning but no real consequence seeing that he apparently did not start the physical confrontation. Our PM found our tenants a different place to stay and we lost some rent.
Not our tenant, but tenant across the street from our unit was a extreme hoarder case. They had cat and dog that **** repeatedly in house and was not cleaned up. There was stuff piled to the ceilings. One of the most surprising things to me was the cobwebs in the door to the bathroom. It appears tenant bent down to avoid the webs rather than remove the webs. The unit was a total rip out, mostly due to the pet damage. If it was just the hoarding, the cost would not have been that high as the owner negotiated $300 to remove everything and they got to keep what they wanted (there was unused laptops, multiple flat screen TVs, etc).
- Member since 2022 · 31 posts · 34 votes4y
Quote from @Dan H.:
Both these worse case happened to our STR units which we do not self manage:
Scenario 1: tenant created a mud pit out of the small yard for girls to wrestle in. PM collected for damages and lost rent. We placed a deck over 50% of the yard and artificial turf over the other half of the yard.
Scenario 2 may not primarily be an issue with our tenant (depends on your perspective): Our STR tenant was one guy and 2 females. One of the neighbors (who was an LTR tenant) was being obnoxious toward one or both females. Our male tenant attempted to be chivalrous and supposedly started the physical confrontation. our tenant ended up getting KOed. Our PM contacted the neighbor PM and neighbor tenant got a warning but no real consequence seeing that he apparently did not start the physical confrontation. Our PM found our tenants a different place to stay and we lost some rent.
Not our tenant, but tenant across the street from our unit was a extreme hoarder case. They had cat and dog that **** repeatedly in house and was not cleaned up. There was stuff piled to the ceilings. One of the most surprising things to me was the cobwebs in the door to the bathroom. It appears tenant bent down to avoid the webs rather than remove the webs. The unit was a total rip out, mostly due to the pet damage. If it was just the hoarding, the cost would not have been that high as the owner negotiated $300 to remove everything and they got to keep what they wanted (there was unused laptops, multiple flat screen TVs, etc).
The mud wrestling pit is terrible for your property but so creative on the tenant's part. I can't help but laugh!
These are some interesting stories!
- Real Estate Agent · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes4y
I just had my worst tenant experience within the past week.
We screened her with our usual screening criteria and she passed without issue. No obvious red flags.
She moved in on 9/5 and then over the next 2 weeks we started having the following problems:
-She was given one garage parking space and the other tenant was using the other one. She parked in the middle of the garage at least 2 times so the other tenant complained they were unable to park in the garage.
-The tenant left the garage door open at least once, which was a security issue for the other tenant's car and motorcyle.
-She smoked weed in her unit when we have a no smoking policy (the other tenant notified us about the smell).
-When she was being noisy when I was trying to sleep (we live in the unit below her), after being kept awake for several nights in a row, I asked her politely to please try to keep it down at night. After this she exploded over text saying that we were harassing her and that she wanted to move out. At that point, given all the other problems we had with her, we accepted and mutually agreed to refund her for the monthly rent for the days which she would not be living in the property AND we refunded her the "non refundable" move in fee since she was demanding that. Thankfully she was able to move out this past Saturday and there was no damage to the unit. Bullet dodged.
We had to swallow our pride a bit but we did not want an eviction on our hands and just wanted her out. She was acting very aggressive and agitated when it came to getting her money back. We won't miss her.
In hindsight there were a few red flags that we now see. Our other tenants are awesome.
- Rental Property Investor · Prince George's County, MD · Member since 2022 · 177 posts · 187 votes4y
Quote from @Paul De Luca:
In hindsight there were a few red flags that we now see. Our other tenants are awesome.
Hello @Paul De Luca, I'm curious, what red flags did you notice after she left?
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