The best and only way a landlord can protect his / her interests is to write out an airtight lease agreement for tenants to sign. A well-constructed agreement makes the world of difference between being stuck with a troublesome tenant and taking legal recourse to safeguard your rental property.

It would be a good idea to have a competent lawyer well-versed in landlord / tenant law review the lease agreement before you finalise it. A professional is in a better position to help you determine a landlord’s legal rights in many different situations. The following tips should be of considerable help to you in the creation of a rental agreement to protect landlords and their properties.

1. Knowledge of the Law: Property management and landlord / tenant rights are governed by different laws in each state. A landlord should familiarise himself / herself with these laws before writing out a lease agreement. Knowledge about the law will guide you as to what can and cannot be put into a lease agreement.
2. Clarity is top priority: Confusing legal jargon or a poorly written agreement can result in misinterpretations and may not hold up in court. A landlord’s requirements should be couched in easy-to-understand terminology even a fool may find it difficult to misconstrue.
3. Condition of rental property should be part of the lease: Ensure that the lease contains a small paragraph saying the unit being leased out is in good condition, undamaged and there are no problems relating to it.
4. Pet Policy: A landlord’s lease should contain a clause relating to his / her pet policy i.e. whether pets are allowed and restrictions if any regarding size and pet type. As well, if you prohibit keeping of pets on your rental property, ensure it is there in the lease.
5. Right of Entry: Each state requires a landlord to give his / her tenant a specific amount of notice period before entering the premises. Some states have 24-hours as the minimum time requirement, while others maintain a 48 or 72-hours notice period. How much notice, you intend to give your tenant should be a clear part of the lease.
6. Security Deposit Terms: Everything relating to the security deposit should be spelt out clearly in the lease. For example, if tenants are required to pay a deposit against damages to the property, it should be specifically stated in the lease, what is to be considered as damage to the property.
7. Rental and Security Deposit Amounts should be clearly stated: The rent per month and amount of security deposit should be clearly stated in the rental agreement. The lease should also contain information on when the rent is to be paid and when it will be considered as late payment, including penalty charges.
8. Maintenance and repairs, what you will or will not cover: It is a landlord’s responsibility to provide repairs for fixtures, heating and air-conditioning equipment, including appliances. However, a lease agreement can designate tenants with certain maintenance responsibilities and hold them responsible for repairs needed due to negligence or destructive tenant acts.
9. Activity restrictions: If a landlord expects his / her tenants to follow a certain code of conduct, it should be included in the lease agreement. This will provide a clear lifestyle guideline for tenants and will take care of your interests should the tenant fail to follow the rules and restrictions laid down by you.
10. Consequences of lease breaching should be made clear: In case, a tenant breaks the specified code of conduct or fails to pay rent on time, specify in the lease that in such cases, the landlord has the right to terminate the lease agreement and evict the tenant.

Incorporate all of the above points and you are well on your way to constructing an indisputable lease agreement that will hold up in any court of justice!

Abandoned property is property that a tenant has given up all rights to and intent to reacquire same property is not evident. To ascertain the correct legal procedure to deal with such a situation, landlords are advised to consult Civil Code, Section 1951.3, which contains the applicable law relating to abandoned property. As well, reading the following should give you a fair idea of when a landlord may consider his / her property to have been abandoned.

1. If you find your rental property unoccupied, it may only be considered abandoned if there is a delinquency in rental payment and no rent has been paid for 14-consecutive days.
2. It is important a landlord has reasonable belief that his / her property has been abandoned. If a landlord knows or suspects his / her tenant is either away on vacation, living at his / her job site, in jail or simply absent due to other circumstances, he / she may not consider the property to have been abandoned, as there is every possibility that the tenant will / may return to take up residence, again.
3. If a landlord finds his property unoccupied, instead of considering it abandoned, he / she must first serve a written notice upon the tenant, mailed first class with prepaid postage, and sent to the last known address or any other address, where the tenant may receive it. Perhaps, the notice can be sent to his / her place of employment, a parent’s address, a P.O. Box No, including a copy to the premises, a landlord believes to have been vacated by the tenant. This is, in order, to provide adequate opportunity for the tenant to reclaim his / her tenancy rights, if so wished.You are not required to send the notice by certified mail as the law presumes first class mail is sufficient proof; the notice has been received by the addressee. However, as further precaution, obtain proof of mailing from the post office.
4. The waiting period of 18-days ensues and a landlord has to out the period before he / she can take any action.
5. A landlord cannot re-possess his / her property if the court does not agree the property has been abandoned, or if all or a portion of the rent owed is paid up during the 18-day waiting period, or if the tenant gives written notice that he / she has no intent to abandon the property, along with providing an address where he / she can be sent certified mail.
6. In case, none of the above happens, a landlord is allowed to re-enter the premises after the 18-day waiting period and may rent out the property, again.
7. If, personal property is found to be abandoned, the landlord is required to store it in a safe place, protecting it from theft and natural elements. He / she will be held responsible and made to pay for any damage to the tenant’s property.
8. On the other hand, a landlord is entitled to seek reimbursement from the tenant for storage costs and the safe-guarding of his / her personal property.
9. Before storing the property, the landlord must itemise and determine the monetary value of the abandoned personal property, except in the case of a locked trunk or suitcase, whose outward appearance can simply be described. And while, evaluating and making an inventory of the personal property ensure you have a reliable witness on hand. If the property is valued over $300.00, it will be required to be sold off at a public auction. If, under $300.00, it can be disposed off in whatever manner after requisite notices have been sent.
10. In the same way as abandoned rental property, a proper written notice is to be served on the tenant for abandoned personal property. Again, an 18-day waiting period ensues to allow him / her time to reclaim his / her belongings, with release of the property dependant on its value, whether over $300.00 or under.If storage and other charges are paid by the owner, the abandoned personal property may be released. But, a landlord cannot hold ransom personal property for unpaid rent or damaged property.
11. If the tenant’s personal property is auctioned of, the proceeds from the public sale rightfully belong to the tenant. The landlord is not entitled to them in lieu of unpaid rent or damage to property. He / she can only claim reimbursement for actual costs of storing the property and for advertisement of the sale. If the tenant does not claim the balance amount, the landlord is required to deposit it in the County security, in which the sale took place.

It is important that landlords follow the law; otherwise they may end up getting sued or land themselves in uncomfortable situations. As well, it is a good idea to confer with a lawyer before taking action on your own.

The following tips or rather simple suggestions will help you run your rental business smoothly, as well as, hassle tangle free relations with your tenants.

1. Never rent out your place without checking up on your prospective tenant’s credit history, landlord plus other references and background. Incomplete screening and tenant selection can result in numerous problems, such as, late rent payment or no payment at all, or a tenant who has no respect for your property, or is careless of the damage he / she causes, or else you can get a tenant who allows undesirable friends to move into your property along with him / her, and worse.
2. Ensure you get all important terms of the tenancy in writing, beginning with rental application, lease or rental agreement, notices to tenant e.g. entering tenant’s apartment for maintenance / repairs, etc., handling of tenant complaints and repairs i.e. when and how they were handled, etc., even going so far as to noting down conversations or discussions with your tenant that bear any relevance to the tenancy.
3. A Landlord must establish a clear, fair system of collecting, holding and returning security deposits. Inspect and record the condition of the rental unit, document and if possible video-tape it before a tenant moves in. This will help prevent disputes over security deposits when he / she moves out.
4. A good landlord always stays on top of repairs and maintenance to his / her rental unit. If the property is in a deplorable condition, the tenants will have every right to withhold rent, sue for injuries caused as a result of broken steps, etc, or even move out without notice.
5. Make your property burglar proof as you do not want to be held liable for tenant losses. Skimping on essentials could cost much, much more in the long run.
6. A good landlord always respects the privacy of his / her tenants and notifies them whenever he / she plans to enter their unit and will give as much notice as possible, at least a minimum of twenty-four hours, or the minimum required by state laws.
7. Environmental hazards such as lead must be disclosed, as increasingly, tenants are holding landlords liable for health problems related from exposure to environmental poisons on the rental premises.
8. Rental property managers must be chosen carefully, as if he / she is incompetent or commits a crime, it is the landlord who will be held financially responsible. You need to screen employees and conduct background checks, the same way you would a tenant, as well, clearly spell out the manager’s duties in order to prevent future problems.
9. For someone in the rental business, it is important to purchase sufficient liability and other property insurance. A well-constructed insurance programme will protect your rental property from losses due to fire, storms, burglary, vandalism, personal injury and discrimination lawsuits.
10. Resolve to resolve disputes with tenants without resorting to lawyers and litigation. Any conflict over rent, repairs, access to rental unit, noise or any other issue that does not warrant eviction, can be sorted out by meeting with the tenant and talking it over.In case, that does not work, try mediation through a neutral third party, which is often available at little or no cost from a publicly funded programme. If the dispute is over money and all attempts to resolve the conflict fail, the next resort is to go to the small claims court, a place where one can represent oneself without hiring a lawyer. When a tenant moves out without paying rent and damage to the property is over and above the security deposit amount, the small claims court can help you collect unpaid rent or obtain reimbursement for property damage caused by your tenant.

As long as you follow all the above scrupulously, you will be the best landlord in the rental business and will never have to resort to lawsuits or chase tenants for unpaid rent or damage to your property.

A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) was designed by the federal government to ensure every ‘consumer reporting agency’ (CRA) adheres to the principles of promoting accuracy, fairness and privacy of information in its files. A large number of CRAs are credit bureaus in the business of collecting and selling information about people, such as, whether they pay their bills on time, or if they have ever filed for bankruptcy, etc. to creditors, employers, landlords, and other businesses. If you are interested, the complete text of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681-1681u can be found at the Federal Trade Commission’s web site – http://www.ftc.gov. The FCRA guarantees the public specific rights outlined below. In addition, the public also has additional rights under state law that can be learnt about by contacting a state or local consumer protection agency or a state attorney general.

1. You have the right to know if the information in your file has been used against you. If anyone uses information from a CRA against you, such as, denying an application for credit, insurance, or employment, they must inform you, and give the name, address, and phone number of the CRA responsible for providing that consumer report.
2. You have the right to access information on your file. You are allowed to access the information on your file, including a list of everyone who has requested it recently, after making a minimal payment of $8 to the CRA. There will be no charges for the report, if action has been taken against you, as a result of information supplied by the CRA, and as long as, you request the report within 60-days of receiving the notice of action. As well, on request, you are entitled to a free report, once every twelve months, if you certify you are unemployed and will seek employment within 60-days, or if you are on welfare, or if your report is inaccurate due to fraud.
3. Inaccurate information can be disputed with the CRA. If your file with a CRA contains inaccurate information, the CRA is required to investigate the inaccuracies (usually within 30-days) by presenting all relevant evidence submitted by you to its information source. The source must in turn review evidence provided and report its findings to the CRA, including advising national CRAs to whom it has provided inaccurate data, of the errors. It must give a written report of the investigation, as well as, a copy of your report with changes, and in case, a CRA investigation does not resolve the dispute, you are permitted to add a brief statement to your file. All future reports given out by the CRA must include a summary of your statement. If items are deleted or dispute statements filed, you may ask the CRA to notify everyone in recent receipt of your report of the changes.
4. Correction and deletion of inaccurate information a must. CRAs are required to remove or correct inaccurate or unverified information from files, usually within 30-days of your disputing it. However, the CRA is not required to remove accurate data from your file, unless it is outdated or cannot be verified. If changes are made to your report as a result of your dispute, the CRA cannot reinsert a disputed item into your file, unless the information source verifies its accuracy and completeness. As well, the CRA is required to issue you a written notice informing you of the reinsertion of the item. The notice issued must include the name, address and phone number of the information source.
5. Inaccurate items can be disputed with the source of information. If you tell anyone, such as, a creditor reporting to a CRA that you dispute an item, they cannot report the information to a CRA, without including a notice of your dispute. As well, once you have notified the information source of the error in writing, it may not continue to report the information if it is, in fact, an error.
6. A CRA is not allowed to report outdated information. In most cases, negative information more than 7-years old or 10-years for bankruptcies cannot be reported by CRAs.
7. Limited access files. Credit files have limited access and CRAs are only allowed to provide information about you to people, whose need is recognized by the FCRA, usually, in the case of credit applications to a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, or other business.
8. Your consent is required for providing reports to employers, or reports containing medical information. A CRA is not permitted to give out information about you to your employer, or prospective employer, without written consent from you. Neither, is it allowed to report medical information to creditors, insurers, or employers without your permission.
9. The option to exclude your name from CRA lists for unsolicited credit and insurance offers is yours. Creditors and insurers may use filed information to send unsolicited offers of credit or insurance. These offers must include a toll-free phone number for you to call, if you want your name and address removed from future lists. In case, you call them, they are responsible for keeping your name off the lists for a minimum of two years, as well, requesting, completing, and returning the CRA form provided for this purpose ensures you are taken off the lists, indefinitely.
10. Violaters can be sued for damage. A CRA or a user or a provider of CRA data found violating the FCRA can be sued in a state or federal court.

Knowing your rights is important for both landlords and tenants as landlords often use consumer reporting agencies or credit bureaus for a background check of prospective clients.

If you have evicted a tenant for not paying rent the law allows you to collect the money owed you. Even years later.

But, before you can claim the rent, you need to get a court order or money judgement that gives you the right to do so. When you filed the tenant eviction case in court, a judgement and order i.e. a document signed by the judge authorising the local sheriff / officer to, if need be forcibly evict your tenant / tenants, had allowed you to regain possession of your rental property.

In order, to get a court to issue a money judgement against the tenant, two things are required:

1. Court papers must be personally served on the tenant.
2. The tenant is required to show up in court.

If eviction papers i.e. the court papers and not the notice to pay rent are posted on the door of the unit and/or mailed to the tenant, this generally means you did not get a money judgment from the court.

In this case, can I use Security Deposits by way of unpaid rent?

In case, you took a security deposit from the tenant when he / she moved in, you are legally allowed to apply the amount against anything the tenant owes you for back rent or by way of damages. However, it is necessary for you to comply with state law by notifying the tenant of your intent to use the deposit against the rent owed. And, if you returned the security deposit, despite having done so, legally you are still allowed to sue the tenant for actual rent owed and/or damages incurred to the unit.

In case, the tenant vacated your property before the court hearing, and if you were not able to get a money judgement, you can initiate proceedings against the tenant in the local small claims court for rent owed or damages to your property. A simple process, you can handle it yourself without hiring a lawyer. File the claim before the end of the statute of limitations, which generally ranges from three to six years, depending on the state you live in.

With a money judgment in hand, you can collect rent owed against all non-exempt assets of the debtor. Certain assets, such as retirement accounts are exempt from credit collection. Also, states recognising community property, allow assets of the debtor’s spouse to be attached.

But, the easiest targets for credit collection are bank accounts. A copy of a tenant’s recent cheque allows you to file for a ‘levy of execution’ on their bank accounts through the local sheriff. Note, making copies of tenants’ cheques each month is good practice as you know exactly where they bank.

If the tenant is employed, you can collect wages, but most states limit collection to 25% of the debtor’s wages. Still, a steady pay check allows you to your money back with interest. Getting a judgement transcript recorded in county records will ensure the tenant is not allowed to buy a house in that county without first paying off what is owed you. In case, a tenant owns other real estate in his / her name, the judgement will create a lien on the property, as well.

If you do not know where your tenant has skipped to, start a debtor proceeding in court that will make him / her appear in court to answer questions regarding his / her assets. Failure to comply can result in a warrant for the debtor’s arrest.

As a landlord, it is important for you to know the legalities of handling an eviction and getting rent owed you. If a landlord does not know the correct legal way of handling such eventualities, he / she may end up getting sued by the tenant, instead. Therefore, landlords, property managers, resident managers, etc. must keep themselves abreast of all pertinent landlord / tenant laws of their state.

Legally, self help evictions are prohibited in all states. The locking out of a tenant and / or disposing off his / her property by a landlord, without going through the statutory eviction process is known as self-help eviction. If a landlord wishes to get rid of unwanted tenants using the self-eviction process, not only will he be held liable for actual damages i.e. value of lost items, but also for legal costs.

Then too, the landlord can also be slapped with common law claims for relief in conversion, trespassing and trespassing to chattels. All intentional torts, these according to common law are the basis for a court awarding actual and punitive damages, as well as, legal costs. Courts award punitive damage monetary amounts to impress upon and dissuade landlords from going in for self evictions in the future. Often, if the landlord owns a considerable amount of real estate, the punitive damage amount awarded by the court can be large enough to hurt, so as to ensure he / she does not use the same process again to get rid of tenants.

Thus, it should be clear that self help evictions can prove terribly expensive for the landlord. As for the tenants, they may find all their rent payment receipts and other important rental documents destroyed, but landlords should bear in mind, courts are sympathetic to proof related problems of tenants, as it was misconduct on the part of the landlord that caused the problem.

Even when a tenant cannot prove his / her damages, a court may award nominal damages to the tenant. And, nominal damages play an important role in the award of punitive damages and legal costs. In case, the landlord wins the case in court, the victory comes at the considerable expenditure of time and money i.e. legal costs.

In the case of abandonment, it is unwise for a landlord to rely on a lease clause that says rental premises will be considered abandoned, if a tenant has not been seen for a couple of weeks. As long as the tenant has paid rent to date, if he / she has personal items still at the rented premises, if items of sentiment or of value remain behind, it is strong evidence that the tenant is simply away and intends to return.

In such a situation where a landlord does not know whether his property has been abandoned or not, the correct legal procedure is to file an eviction in court and get a writ of restitution. Staying within the law, a landlord will not have to face any liabilities if he / she is sued after a properly filed eviction. And, bear in mind, costs of filing an eviction are far less than defending oneself in court if by the tenant for self-eviction. Even if the evidence is that the tenant abandoned your property, it is always a good idea to video tape the premises, so as to be able to prove in court, the condition of your property led you to believe it was abandoned.

It is a wise move on the part of all landlords to make tenants sign a document that verifies the date they left the property and did so voluntarily, and any items remaining behind are not theirs or have been abandoned. As well, preserve all letter / e-mail communications from the tenant stating he / she is leaving and not coming back, including making an inventory of items left behind and storing the valuable ones in a safe place. This should help limit damage charges a tenant asserts against you.

As long as a landlord plays by the rules, he will be charge and it will be difficult to have him sued or taken to court unnecessarily.

As landlord of rental homes or apartment complexes in high demand, you are also required to maintain high standards in order to keep your tenants happy. Therefore, you cannot afford to rent to anyone who has just walked off the street. How can you be sure they won’t have your building raided, because of the herbal – read marijuana – garden they have been growing in their apartment, or because they hold rave parties at their place? To avoid such tenant complications, it is advisable for landlords to screen tenants and ensure the background check performed is extensive.

If your rental units are in high demand, it is only natural you should also have high expectations of tenant applicants. And, while screening tenants don’t shy away from asking questions, ask as many as you like, without fear of being accused as meddlesome and prying. After all, what else is a background check about!

Your application form should ask for current employment information and it is a good idea to request the previous employment information, as well. The current employer may confirm they are great employees, but then if he / she has only been employed there for a few weeks that does not hold out. You should contact his / her previous employer and find out, whether he / she walked out of their job, or whether he / she constantly came late to work, or were he / she fired for inappropriate behaviour?

Similarly, you should contact both current and previous landlords, as current landlords may only sing paeans of praise in case they want to get rid of that particular tenant. It is the previous landlord with nothing to lose, who will give you only the truth and nothing, but the blunt truth. Check on the consistency of rental payments, or if they proved troublesome for other tenants, etc.

Ask prospective tenants what their annual income is to determine what they can afford as rent. Most property managers maintain rent should not be more than 33% of a tenant’s income, doing the requisite math should let you know, whether the tenant can comfortably make rental payments and on time. No matter, it is still important to verify their finances through employers and credit histories to get at the truth.

Then too, you application form should include a question about whether or not he / she plans to move in with pets or acquire them later. Not only do pets, especially large ones in small areas cause expensive damages, they also have your rental unit smelling foul, and it is unfair to cage the animals in small units! And again, if you are an animal lover, you will not want someone who cares so little for living creatures to rent your units.

As well, be sure to include a clause in your rental application form stating your right to perform criminal, personal and financial background checks on prospective tenants. Without this clause in the tenant’s signed application, you have no legal rights to conduct a background check.

If after talking to past employers and landlords, you are okay with the applicant, as a last measure, run a credit report. Since, credit reports can be expensive i.e. $35 to $50/-, do a credit check only on tenants whose screening has proved they are worthy of living in your rental complex or house. Actually, you can add a clause in your application form saying tenants are responsible for paying for their own credit reports.

Once you have confirmed everything is kosher about the tenant, go ahead and have him / her sign the lease. There is no doubt that your efforts will have paid off, as your new tenant maintains your property as if it were his / her own, including paying the rent on time!

If you are the owner of rental property then it is important you know how to create a fair, legally valid agreement. As well, you need to know what a landlord can expect to happen if he / she or a tenant wishes to break the lease or rental agreement.

Why it is important to have a written lease or rental agreement?

A key document that sets out important issues relating to a tenancy, it is essential to have either a lease or rental agreement for rental properties. Both leases and rental agreements contain the following information

1. Tenancy duration.
2. Monthly rental amount.
3. Names and the number of people allowed to rent the property.
4. Whether a landlord or tenant is responsible for paying the utilities.
5. Whether, the property is to be kept pet free or if a tenant is allowed to keep pets.
6. Whether, sub-letting is permitted.
7. Landlord’s right of entry or access to the rental property.
8. Who is responsible for paying legal costs in the event of a law suit.

Although, most states allow for oral agreements, which may be easy and informal, they can often result in nasty disputes. As any landlord who has had his fingers burnt knows, leases and rental agreements should always be in writing. If there is no written agreement and later on the tenant and landlord disagree about, say for example – sub-letting, the entire matter may end up going to court. A particular problem related to long-term leases has led to courts in some states refusing to enforce oral agreements after the passage of one year.

What differentiates a rental agreement from a lease?

The difference between the two lies in the period of occupancy. A rental agreement provides for short-term tenancies e.g. often 30-days, and is automatically renewed at the end of this period, unless the tenant or landlord end it giving due written notice, usually of 30-days. For these month-to-month rentals (rent is paid monthly), a landlord is allowed to change the agreement terms as long as he / she gives proper written notice, subject to any rent control laws. Again, the notice period is usually 30-days, but if the rent is paid weekly or bi-weekly, it can be shorter in some states, or based on what the landlord and tenant agree to.

On the other hand, a written lease gives a tenant the right of occupation of a rental unit for a set term, which can be either for six months, a year, or longer, as long as the tenant pays the rent and complies with other lease provisions. Unlike a rental agreement, the expiry of a lease does not automatically renew it. If a tenant stays on when a lease expires with the landlord’s consent, he / she is considered to be a month-to-month tenant.

As well, a fixed-term lease does not allow the landlord to raise the rent or change other tenancy terms during the lease duration, unless the changes are specifically provided for in the lease, or the tenant agrees.

If a tenant breaks a long-term lease, what happens then?

Generally, tenants are not allowed to break their lease unless and until a landlord violates its terms i.e. fails to make necessary repairs or fails to comply with important health and safety laws. There are a few states that will allow a tenant to break his / her lease due to health problems or a job that requires him / her to permanently relocate.

If a tenant breaks his / her lease without a valid reason, he / she is held responsible for payment of rent under the lease term. However, most states make it the legal duty of a landlord to find a new tenant as soon as is possible, regardless of the tenant’s reason for breaking the lease.

When is a landlord legally allowed to break a lease and end a tenancy?

If a tenant violates the lease terms or the law i.e. late rental payments, keeps pets, thereby violating the No Pets clause of the lease, damages the property or engages in illegal activities on the leased premises, then a landlord has every right to end the lease without getting on the wrong side of the law.

But, before he / she can do so, a written notice has to be sent to the tenant informing him / her that the tenancy has been terminated, with a warning about vacating the premises or eviction proceedings will be initiated against them. Or else, a landlord can ask the tenant to desist from violating the lease terms, and if the tenant complies and does as he / she is told, there is no issue to go to court.

The most troublesome aspect of being a landlord is tenants who damage your property, from complete trashing to total destruction, and even worse. There are plenty of horror stories around about what tenants can to a rental.

And, if you think finding a good tenant depends on luck, you couldn’t be more wrong, or else why don’t you work to ensure luck favours you, at least, in relation to the right choice of tenant. That means taking the following measures to reduce risk concerns that will guarantee the well-being of your rental property.

First, adopt Tenant Screening, which is the magic mantra of all successful, savvy landlords. How many landlords can confirm they carry out a complete tenant screening exercise, when looking for prospective tenants? Not many if gauged from the horror stories that float around about property damage! To get a good tenant, a landlord must be thoroughly professional about the entire tenant screening process, and verifying past landlord references is an essential part of every standard screening process. Call them and question them about prospective tenants.

Second, as an important part of the screening process, visit or at the very least, drive by the property the tenant intends to vacate, in order to assess its physical condition. The odds are your prospective tenant will treat your property in the same manner he / she treats their current rental home.

Third, photograph and videotape as in before and after advertisements, in the presence of the tenant after he / she has finished signing the lease. This evidence will ensure tenants look after your property as if it were their own. After all, if taken to court, the before and after evidence ensures law is on your side, no matter what argument the defendant might put up.

Fourth, before handing over your property prepare a complete Property Condition Report documenting the state of your property. Go over it with the tenant and once he / she has signed the inventory and condition checklist, he / she is on record, and you have another legal document, in addition to the lease.

Fifthly, before handing over possession, take a substantial sum as security deposit including the first month’s rent. With so much at stake, the tenant will ensure he / she looks after your property well.

As long as you follow the above steps, you will be able to find a responsible tenant to take good care of your property.

There are innumerable reasons a landlord may wish to evict his / her tenant, factors that range from:

1. Failure to pay rent.
2. Breaching or breaking the lease.
3. Trashing or causing considerable damage to the place, or
4. Any other reason that gives the landlord “good cause” to evict a tenant.

Each state has its own laws on eviction proceedings, laws which vary widely state to state, and are sometimes called “summary dispossess” or “unlawful detainer” lawsuits. Extremely detailed, eviction laws have to be followed to the T of a landlord is to successfully evict an unwanted tenant. Most if not all states, have special restrictions on eviction that apply to residential leases, and these restrictions have to be met precisely before permission is granted to a landlord to evict his / her tenant.

As a rule, a landlord is required to give his / her tenant a “notice to quit” before he / she can begin eviction proceedings. If rent remains unpaid or else other problems remain unsolved, and the tenant refuses to leave even after notice to quit period has expired, a landlord can then go ahead and file a lawsuit, but normally cannot remove a tenant at the expiration of the notice period.

You can consider a lawsuit as initiated, when legal papers are served to the tenant in the form of a summons and complaint. The court hearing pertaining to the case is held in a relatively short period of time, sometimes as soon as 14-days after the serving of the summons and complaint.

At eviction hearings, tenants usually present various defences, such as, right to deduct rent due to the condition of the premises or a miscalculation in rent accounting. The tenant may also prove that he / she is being evicted in retaliation for certain actions, such as,

1. Request for repairs to rental accommodation.
2. Complaints regarding discrimination in housing.
3. Rallying other tenants against the landlord.
4. Reporting housing code violations or asking for code inspections.

After the hearing, if the court rules in favour of the landlord, a tenant is allowed a short period of time to move out before the landlord begins proceeding to forcibly evict the tenant. If the tenant does not voluntarily leave, the landlord can request law enforcement officers to assist him in completing the eviction process. As such, an enforcement officer will issue an official notice informing the tenant, the police will arrive at a certain time to physically remove him / her and his / her possessions from the premises.

It is imperative the landlord does not engage in any acts of self-help i.e. changing locks, turning off utilities, removing the tenants belongings or forcibly attempting to remove the tenant, himself. A landlord must bear in mind; self-help in most states is considered a crime and is completely outlawed. As long as you follow the law, there is no reason a landlord will not be allowed to evict an unwanted tenant. Your best bet in eviction cases is to go by the rules, the best and only solution to solve tenant problems!