As a landlord, getting the right tenant to rent out your property is the most important step in leasing, and you must spend significant time checking references and income and doing background checks. However, regardless of how much due diligence you perform, you may still encounter issues with tenants. Here are five common things that tenants try to get away with.
Paying Rent
The first is not paying rent on time. Tenants will try to take advantage of landlords and provide excuses on why they have not paid their rent on time. Popular excuses range from “I’m waiting for my paycheck from work to come in” to “You haven’t repaired damages in the house, so I shouldn’t have to pay rent until they are fixed.” The best way to avoid these excuses is to keep rent collection records so your tenants can never claim they paid you when they have not, always keep up with necessary repairs on your property, and do routine evaluations of the property to make sure everything is running smoothly.
Extra Occupants
Up next, tenants try to get away with a person living at the property who is not on the lease. Majority of people rent in areas where they know people or have friends, which is not an issue until your tenant has a friend living with him or her you didn’t know about. If someone is living at the property and isn’t on the lease, several problems could arise, from damaged property to noise complaints. The best way to keep this from happening is to make sure to include in the lease that no other person can live in the property except those on the lease and that failure to comply will result in eviction.
Furry Friends
The third thing tenants try to get away with is having pets in a “no pet policy” property. Many tenants will wait weeks or even months after they move in to try and sneak a pet into the property with no consent from the landlord and without paying a pet fee, if applicable. Avoid this by performing regular evaluations on your property and checking whether any pets have appeared.
Accidental Damages
The fourth thing is damages. Accidents happen, and items break, but who pays for the damages? If your lease is in order, and you do evaluations before and after with the tenant, you won’t have to be the one who pays the price. Make sure to make a list and do a walk through the property together on the first day your tenant moves in, noting all preexisting damages. Then, the day before your tenant moves out, walk through the apartment with the list with all the preexisting damages so your tenant can’t argue that they did not create the new damages done to your property.
Avoiding Evictions
The fifth and final thing tenants try to get away with is escaping eviction. Tenants will try to claim, and sometimes even take legal action, that they are being evicted unfairly. To prevent these conflicts, have a clear and concise lease that states the rules specifically and states what qualifies as terms to evict. This way, if the tenant tries to take legal action, there is a good chance of winning your case, and if the tenant refuses to move, you can take legal action to remove them from your property and get it back on the market to rent.
In Conclusion
Don’t want to deal with the trouble of bad tenants? With Real Property Management Utah County, you won’t have to. We can handle everything from damages to complaints and evictions, keeping your identity safe and keeping your mind sane. Don’t stress yourself out over a bad tenant; let us do the work for you. To learn more about the services Real Property Management Utah County offers, contact us online or call us at 801-224-0033 today.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
