6 Types of Tenants You Must Avoid

Have you been looking for a tenant for your rental property for a while now? If that’s the case, we can understand how tricky this entire phase would be for you. You must be getting several applications for rental accommodations. If you still weren’t able to choose the right tenant from this pool, surely they won’t be as per your expectations.

But if you aren’t getting enough applications for rental accommodation, you might be pressurized to close the deal with the next potential tenant you get. Wrong move! You might only end up with the wrong tenant for the next lease period. You don’t want to spend your days and nights worrying about your property being occupied and used by an undesirable person. Hence, screen every application you get, talk to them and only then finalize the deal. In any case, don’t end up with these types of tenants.

1) The Arguing One

Tenants who argue with whatever you say can be nightmares and difficult to deal with in the future. These people will have issues with all the terms, rules, and regulations you have. You will have a hard time trying to explain to them about your rules or even getting the rent every month. Therefore, whenever you get a lot of applications for rental accommodation, make sure you spend enough time talking to each one of them. You will have at least one potential tenant who won’t agree with many of your terms, who have numerous complaints and are just difficult to work with when it comes to various landlord-tenant tasks. You should strictly avoid such people since you don’t want to increase your blood pressure every time you talk to them!

2) The Non-Payer

Well, there are different reasons why your tenant may fail to pay the rent for a month or two in the future. He may be financially broke or may have met with an accident. Some tenants may even forget to pay the rent. All these issues can be dealt with. But there’s hardly any solution for getting a tenant who habitually refrains from paying the rent. You can only avoid such situations by not closing the deal with this type of tenant. Ask all the potential leads to fill the tenant application form. This form asks for all the employment details of a candidate. Once you have a tenant’s employer contact details, be sure to confirm the tenant’s position and tenure of employment and their salary. Based on these, you can figure out whether the person will be able to afford the rent every month or not.

3) The Noisy One

Noisy tenants are the last people you’d want to deal with. They can be extremely frustrating, even when you don’t live close to them to hear their ruckus. Your neighbours can directly lodge complaints if they are affected by your tenants. And as the landlord, it will be your responsibility to handle the situation. Being called during work or odd hours just to solve the matter of noise and ruckus created by your tenant can be irritating or plain impossible. Therefore, make sure you carry out a background check thoroughly. Find out from their past neighbours to know more about their lifestyle. Also, take hints from the interview session. Do they like partying at home or love hosting movie nights? Do they have high-end speakers and musical devices? Or directly ask them if they love loud music? Taking cues will help you sort through those applications for rental accommodation.

4) The Dishonest One

You may even end up with a lying tenant who would lie about practically anything. From their previous tenancy to their employment to their family size, potential tenants can lie about anything and everything to get the right house just like yours. It is essential to cross-check and verify all the details people provide on their applications for rental accommodation. Call the previous landlord to find out if they were a good tenant, a nuisance-maker, or a damage-creator. Find out the actual reason for ending that tenancy. Likewise, conduct thorough background checks to ensure clear records and employment status.

5) The Pet-Owner

A lot of people today have pets. If you don’t like cats, dogs, and other animals, you can easily avoid tenants who have a pet. But if you love animals and are willing to allow them in your apartment or house, remember that the truth remains that pets always result in messes. You never know what kind of destruction a pet may cause to your property, the neighbours, or their properties. Thus, set some ground rules and avoid renting out your house to people with pets. Also, mention it clearly in your contract so that the tenant won’t get a pet in the future also.

6) The Party-Lover

Some people like to party harder than your property can handle. These tenants will host house-parties every second day and will have guests over till late. Partying leads to drunk tenants who can destroy your property and loud noise that can disturb the neighbours. The neighbours may even complain if the nuisance is caused quite often, especially when your property is in a condominium. You don’t want such parties to take place under your watch or deal with legal issues. Thus, when you get applications for rental accommodation, determine the reason a tenant vacated their last property. If it were an eviction because of partying, you would know that you have to skip that application.

By looking at the most obvious red flags and conducting thorough background checks, you can filter your applications for rental accommodation well before getting the right tenant. You can even hire a real estate agent to run through the process of finding the right tenant without dealing with any unnecessary applications for rental accommodation. Just explain your expectations to the professional, and they’ll find the tenant on your behalf.