Whether you have a property manager or are managing your rental units yourself, it is critical that all of your prospective tenants are properly shortlisted. The amount of money you’ll save in the long run by doing your due diligence ahead of time is well worth the extra effort and time invested up front.
Most of us have been burned on occasion by bad tenants who don’t pay their rent on time, return our checks, and ultimately have to be evicted. While pre-screening doesn’t guarantee that you won’t have to evict a tenant, it does make it much less likely.
Even if you have to wait a few more weeks to rent your home to find qualified tenants, make the sacrifice! It is easy to be tempted to accept the first person willing to pay the rent you ask for, but this is a mistake. They need to qualify to occupy your property.
Each city is a little different in how long it takes to file paperwork for eviction, get a court date, and finally, if necessary, have the non-paying tenant removed by the sheriff. But, one thing is for sure: it takes time, usually weeks, sometimes months, to fully resolve the matter.
And, of course, the type of tenant who stops paying you rent, usually does not leave your property in the best condition when you finally manage to evict him. You may be left with thousands of dollars in repair costs, which of course means your property will no longer be profitable, further adding to your losses.
So when you add up attorney fees, court costs, months of lost rent, repairs, and personal stress, taking a little extra time and care to rent your property to a fully qualified tenant is a no-brainer. Rent only to fully qualified and pre-screened tenants!