Monday, June 2, 2014

Tenant Tricks to Recognize

The Old "I’m out of Town" Trick:
A common excuse why the tenant was not able to pay the rent on time. Of course, being out of town on business all the time can make it impossible to mail the rent. What about mailing it early? What about automatic withdrawal? These things would solve the problem and would be used if the tenant was sincere... One tenant tried this on me when caller ID was a brand new feature. He said he was calling from out of state, but I saw his home phone number on the ID!

The Old "Please Don’t Call or Tell my Wife I’m Late with the Rent" Trick:
An attempt to get the landlord in on the conspiracy to save the marriage of the tenant. A big load of BULL.

The Old "You’re a great guy" Trick:
Another attempt to BS you. Sometimes the tenant will give you small gifts to demonstrate his goodwill while he bilks you for months worth of rent. The idea is to make you feel better while you are being taken advantage of. I had a tenant who delivered a pizza to my house. (I was afraid it might be poisoned because I was evicting him.)

The Old "Self Employed with fake income records" Trick:
Self employed tenants are among the most difficult references to verify. Why, because as their own boss, the tenant prospect is giving you his own references on himself. Is it possible he might exaggerate his success and income and create corresponding exaggerated reference material? You bet it is!

The Old "Threaten the Landlord with a Discrimination Suit" Trick:
A common tactic of a disgruntled rental reject. This trick works on many inexperienced landlords. Law abiding landlords who always follow proper tenant screening procedure should not fall victim to this.

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