Whether you’ve been in the real estate investment game for a while or the ink is still drying on your first investment, you may have run into the sort of renter that is often known as a “professional tenant.” These nightmare tenants can be little better than parasites, seemingly feeding off your hard work and giving nothing in return.
The best option is to stop this sort of renter before they even get their hands on a set of keys to your property. So how do you know a professional tenant when you see one? How can you protect yourself and your investment? Hiring a property management company is a good start.
What is a “Professional Tenant”?
A professional tenant seems to make a living on hunting for loopholes, exploiting others, and gaming the system. They’re the sort that seems to turn disagreements into pitched battles, cling to their rent checks like a life raft, and answer every question with an accusation. They may work so hard at playing games and finding technicalities to exploit that you’ll wonder why they don’t put that effort into honest work. So how can you know when you’ve found this sort of person before they make a mess of your investment?
How to Know When You’ve Found One
Professional tenants will all have a few things in common. Assuming that you run even a basic background check on these applicants, you’ll no doubt find a few red flags. Be alert to issues like poor credit history, delinquent or missed payments, and legal trouble (particularly with other landlords). You may find a history of collections and bankruptcies in their financial past. You may also spot some strange gaps in their rental history that they can’t explain or handwave away. Be on the lookout for a knowledge of tenant-landlord law or background in real estate that doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the picture. These things are an indicator of a tenant who has a put the work into hunting for loopholes or may be trying to intimidate you.
How You Can Avoid a Professional Tenant
It’s essential to avoid this sort of renter before they’ve signed a rental agreement. Once they’re in, it can be very challenging to extract them from your property. It’s a lot easier to say “no” than it is to do the administrative and legal work that may be required to evict. The steps that you should take to avoid professional tenants are generally best practices that you should apply to all prospective renters. Do thorough background and credit checks, and dig into the applicant’s employment history and legal records.
Call every reference they provide. Look back a couple of years or more, as a current landlord may omit the issues they are having with this tenant and merely be trying to pass their problem off to you. Be sure to keep proper documentation. Doing so can stave off legal trouble before it even starts. Don’t neglect the importance of talking to each applicant personally. A personal conversation will let you a get a good sense of who they are as a person and help you to feel out whether there are any gaps in their story.
Hire a Property Manager
A great way to avoid a professional tenant is to hire a property manager for your property. A professional can help you dodge these sort of tenants on the front end and deal with them more easily if they do manage to slip through the cracks. A property manager will bring a wealth of knowledge to work for you and will have resources on call to cover almost every situation. Some professional tenants will ask up front whether the property is professionally managed and lose interest if it is. They’ll decide that it isn’t worth the trouble to tangle with a professional.
Property Managers and Tenant Screening
The best way to start is to do effective tenant screening. An experienced property manager worth their salt will come with the knowledge and skill to turn the most difficult tenants away before they ever open the door on one of your properties. A professional property manager will come to you with experience and skill as well as a wealth of legal knowledge. A professional tenant will be relying on your inexperience, and they may not try to play games with a professional property manager.
A good property manager will come to you with the skill to run an effective tenant screening process. They can weed out problems before they ever take root, and make sure that you are bringing in only quality renters. How can you put these skills to work for you? Download our free guide to selecting the best San Diego area property management company to find out. Enter your name and an email address, and you’ll find a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips.
