"Tenants and Toilets"
If
you are in the "buy and hold" side of the real estate investing
business, you know what this means. Yes, it happened to us. These
tenants allowed a leak in the bathroom for several months that damaged the
house to a level "3" contamination rating. On this note, it was definitely time to end this "month-to-month" with them. But before they
left they did as much annoying but costly little damage they could just
short of defecating in on the property. They left a burning iron on a
wood floor of this house that is 65-years old (the original flooring),
left rotting food in the refrigerator, took door knobs, and punched
holes in several doors, knocked the spindle out of a brand new staircase
railing and took the door of a kitchen cabinet that they had broken 6
months earlier. I could go on and on as to the other things they did,
but why? The husband even threatened my partner's life. My partner will
not go near this vacant property so I have to rehab it on my own.
These tenants left us with their unpaid utility and trash bills as well.
My partner, now, no longer wants to be in this passive income business.
Tenants that don't pay
Horror story #2 for this year. In our second property in Maplewood, we accepted a veteran and his family. After accommodating this fair lease with option-to-buy that he and his wife signed off on. He decided to stab me in my back by going to a lawyer (supposedly) and being told that if he didn't want to buy the place he didn't have to pay the option fee. Mind you - he signed a lease. After 3 months he decides that he doesn't know where he will to be in 2 years and now can't buy the house, plus lies about having cancer. Then he walks out on his family and stops paying the rent. In the end it's revealed that the wife has cancer and even has the Angel Network back some part of her rent. She never got up on the rent and became 4 months behind. In November, she said that she would receive a settlement that would allow her to keep the commitment to the contract. The meeting was to be November 20, 2018. After no response and the meeting not taking place, I became concerned and texted to her that I would call the police to have them go to the property and make sure she was OK. She then called. She stated that she had to flee for her life and the safety of her family and fled to Arkansas. She said she would wire the money, but it has not happened. There is a possibility that she may have had a stroke. So, now, $6500+ dollars of back rent due and no way to claim it.
I think it would be interesting to start a TV show called "Tenants and toilets" to talk about the bad renters that make the good renters look special. Through these stories I have learned how spiteful and filthy dirty (lacking cleanliness) people can be. If they can't have their way, they damage your property.
Bottom line - even if the background check seems clean always dig deeper, but do your best to stay with in the Landlord/tenant laws of your community and your state.
