How
To Prevent Eviction!
By
Anesia
Springborn
The
Landloard System by Anesia
Many real estate investors stay away from
buy-and-hold cash flowing properties because of fear – fear of the tenant.
And in their mind, the worst possible scenario is eviction. While eviction
does take effort and can be costly, it can also be avoided altogether the
vast majority of the time. With the proper education and systems, your
tenancies can in fact be very pleasant and profitable and you may never see
an eviction.
One of the best ways to prevent eviction
is to thoroughly screen your tenants. The most common reasons for eviction
are not paying rent and causing damage to property. You can sniff out these
potential problems before you decide to rent to someone, and long before an
eviction becomes inevitable.
Why would someone not pay their rent and
risk eviction? The most obvious reason is that they don't have enough money.
Many landlords don't verify or even ask applicants about their income. Many
landlords want to know where the person works, what they do, and then they
"suppose" how much money they make. Many landlords stop short of calling the
employer to verify employment, and further, what the wages are.
Another way you can better understand a
person's financial situation, and therefore prevent eviction, is to pull
their credit. A credit report shows how much they have to pay monthly on
their credit cards, auto loans, student loans, and any other credit
obligations. You can add this up and decide if they make enough income to
comfortably pay their rent as well.
As long as you are doing background
checks, why not see if your applicant has had an eviction? Public court
records will show any eviction that was legally filed and many tenant
screening companies will supply eviction records as part of a screening
package. Another simple measure is to ask the applicant if they’ve been
involved in an eviction. Some may tell you and save you the trouble of
searching further.
So how do you know if a tenant will
damage your property, and lead you to an eviction? You won't know for sure,
but calling their current AND prior landlord will tell you a lot. The
current landlord may or may not be useful to you. If the tenant is causing
problems for this landlord, he or she may give a glowing report, hoping you
will rent to the tenant.
You get the best information when you
call the prior landlord. This landlord has no motivation to say anything
other than what is absolutely true. The tenant is long gone from their
property and they are generally not afraid of repercussions.
Most evictions arise because of repeated
problems with a tenant and the landlord is finally fed up with the behavior.
The landlord has given the tenant enough chances, and this time is the last
straw. Waiting until the last straw is a really bad idea! You've trained the
tenant that they can violate your rules time and time again without
eviction.
But first, you need to have rules. Do you
have clear policies, written on paper, that your tenants understand? Don't
rely on verbal agreements or a person's common sense. You really do need to
explicitly state what the terms of the lease are and what house rules your
tenants must abide by.
Next, you need to enforce the policies
you've made. When tenants violate a policy, you must act swiftly and
appropriately:
-
Let the tenant know that you've
noticed the violation
-
Tell them what they must do to
rectify it
-
Tell them what the consequences will
be if they don't
This communication needs to be in
writing, and don't forget to keep a copy for your files. When tenants see
that you operate by the book, they are much less likely to break the rules,
and you’re much less likely to have to deal with an eviction.
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About the author
This article has been written by Anesia Springborn, real estate
investor and creator of The Landlord System. Anesia teaches her
students how to leverage time and money to grown their passive
income stream. She may be reached by visiting
www.TheLandlordSystem.com
More Articles by Anesia
Springborn
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