Tenants: The Good, the Bad and the Untrustworthy

Cash cow or money pit? The tenants you let your property to may be the deciding factor as to which one your investment ends up becoming.

So good tenants are essential – that’s a given. How then do you sort through the good, the bad and the court case waiting to happen?

A healthy scepticism and a refusal to be rushed are useful attitudes to have as many a landlord has been hustled into an unwise agreement by a well dressed, smooth talking individual whose need to “move in now and settle up later” should have set immediate alarm bells ringing.

A professional lettings agent should act as your early warning system in a very practical way and that is to thoroughly credit check all prospective tenants before recommending them. The vetting process has to exhaustive with references being taken up and investigated. Names and addresses need to be double and triple checked. Nothing should be taken at face value.

Your lettings agency should be able to provide you with all the necessary intelligence and safeguards in order to prevent a seemingly straightforward rental arrangement turning into a major headache.

We do this by identifying five categories of problem tenants and heading them off before they reach you. One thing to remember is that they may all seem like model citizens to begin with, only showing their true colours later on when it’s too late. Let’s call them the “Fake Five”.

1. The Disco Divas.

It’s hard to believe that these people ever manage to hold down jobs, such is their incessant partying and noise. Sub-bass frequencies turns the apartment into “Dubstep Central” and ensure that the landlord is regarded as public enemy #1 by the local council and all the neighbours. Not only that, but the constant parade of visitors is playing havoc with all the carefully chosen decor. There’s no use waiting for these tenants to grow up either as they seem to be determined to relive their student days forever. Only children may change these party animals, which brings us to:

2. The Godfathers

There is never any problem with the rent and its easy to see why, with six adults contributing to the cost. The only problem is that this is a two bedroom apartment that was initially let out to a couple. The ever changing roster of people seen in the property is explained away as “visiting family” and while strong extended family ties are to be applauded, it becomes a problem when neighbours start referring to occupants of a property as “The Mafia”. It therefore comes as no surprise that damages to the apartment may very well exceed the amount in the deposit.

3. Tomorrow’s Children.

So called because of their chronic habit of late payment, these characters start off as the model of punctuality when it comes to paying the rent and when the rot sets in their excuses seem plausible enough. After some months, however, a litany of disasters always seems to crop up on a monthly basis. “Bank problems”, “Computer Problems” and “Sick Relatives” all appear in seemingly endless rotation. They have also mastered the art of paying only part of their rent, thus turning their landlord into an alternative bank.

4. The Zoo Keepers

Britain regards itself as a nation of animal lovers, so it’s not surprising that some will go to any length in order to keep their pets with them, even when the landlord stipulates that it is not allowed. They may casually enquire about animals when they are looking at the apartment and that should be enough to alert the landlord as to a potential problem ahead. A puppy may be cute, but when left alone in a flat, they have the ability to cause untold havoc. Just ask the professional cleaners whose task it is to rid an apartment of farmyard smells which cling to carpets months after the offending critter has gone.

5. The Legal Eagles.

When it comes to desirable tenants, young professionals tick many boxes for many landlords, however they too bring along a unique set of challenges. Highly literate and with a good working knowledge of basic legal procedures, they may sometimes feel the need to nit-pick a tenancy agreement and contest every detail. Slight damage to furniture that would normally be covered by their deposit, suddenly becomes a gateway to a year long legal dogfight involving an arbitrator with nobody winning except the lawyers.

It goes without saying that even when you are presented with the perfect tenant that you take a month’s rent in advance and a deposit, and do not allow the tenants to have the keys and move in before this money has cleared.