Friday, 19 March 2010

Problem Tenants Create Headaches For Landlords

Even though problem tenants may not be widespread in the business, it is very likely that every landlord will at some time rent a home to one. Now you could possibly be thinking this could never happen to you thanks to thorough background and reference checks that you complete for every would-be tenant. Be forewarned, if you plan to keep on owning rental property for any length of time, you will likely have to deal with a problem tenant eventually.

Landlords Have Choices When Tenants Violate the Lease

The offenses of problem tenants encompass everything from noisy parties to drug dealing. They sometimes destroy property or chronically pay late. How a landlord handles problem tenants will depend entirely on how often a tenant causes problems and the degree of the problem. A tenant who plays loud music or leaves garbage outside the unit should be handled differently than someone who is running a criminal operation such as drug dealing from their rental home. Tenants who commit minor offenses may respond to a notice and suppress their offensive behavior, which would save you time and money. Nevertheless, make sure that you keep comprehensive records of the complaints against tenants and any notices you send. If the lease violations continue or escalate, such records will help your case for eviction if you have to take it to court.

Landlords have other choices for handling tenants who cause minor problems without starting the eviction process. If notices have not been responded to and the renter continues to break the rules of the lease, you can attempt negotiation on your own or with a mediator. If you are frustrated with that tenant and you want them to move out of your rental home without having to officially evict them, it is possible that third party that they trust can save you the expense of an eviction by advising them to leave.

Nevertheless, serious problems can not be handled through notices or arbitration. Get in touch with the police if you suspect that a tenant participates in illegal activities. You will still be required to evict those lessees, even if they are convicted of a crime, since the police can not force them to quit the premises.

Act Cautiously if You Think that Tenants Have Abandoned Your Rental Home

Landlords cannot construe that lessees have abandoned rental properties without checking to make sure. You have to have reasonable proof of abandonment before removing renter's possessions. Measures you can take include questioning the neighbors, examining the rental home yourself and calling the nearest post office to see if they put in a forwarding address. Be sure to check the rental laws in your locality to find out how long you have to store abandoned belongings before you can legally dispose of them and what you must do to notify the tenants about the possessions they left behind.

Check out Scottsdale Arizona Property Management or Central Phoenix Arizona Property Management if you want quality help managing your Phoenix properties.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lee_Bell

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