Nightmare Tenant Cost This Owner $26,000 Because Of The Most Dangerous Screening Mistake
As an owner of a Tampa property management company, I encountered a lot of owners in unfortunate circumstances.I just spoke with a potential client who lives in Orlando.She had just finished spending over $26,000 renovating a very nice townhome in Tampa. She had picked the wrong tenant thinking she was doing the right thing. The sad thing is the owner was just acting as any normal, decent human being would.
The problem is owner encountered one of the 2% of our population that are considered compulsive liars. As a Tampa property manager, I see this all the time. I call these people "Nightmare Tenants" because they will lie so convincingly that he or she could win an Academy award for acting.These people are so good at lying because it is their basic default setting.They lie all the time in every aspect of their life.
The basic ploy is the person builds a ton of rapport with you.He or she is very friendly, conversational, and probably a very good listener.However, the "tell" is when they start giving you a story about how all bad thing(s) you are going to find on their credit report is not their fault.Their last landlord was the "Devil", or their ex-husband or ex-wife caused all this terrible stuff.
There are a ton of tricks these people will use besides telling you a heart wrenching story.They will have their friends pretend to be their landlord and employment references. They will delay even submitting a rental application until the last possible minute.They will try to give you cash to let them move-in right away.They will switch from such nice people to guilt tripping you about how they need a chance.
This particular tenant had a PHD in education and had a great job. She had very bad credit but claimed it was her spouse's fault.But she really got the owner with the "story" of how she just needed a chance to get back on her feet. Always keep in mind, tenants are not family.You are under no obligation to listen to their stories much less give allowances for their circumstances.
In short, as a landlord you've got to prepare yourself to handle these people.There's about 2% of the population but they prey on private landlord and can be 20% of the calls you get.You are in charge and in control of screening process.Don't be cajoled or pressured in any way.If prospective tenants start doing this, 95 times out of 100 you should not even run their application and just refund their application fee, if they even submit one.